Renovations to the Marvin Center’s fourth floor may not be completed by the beginning of the fall semester, Marvin Center Governing Board Chair Mike Petron said.
“I don’t think it will be done by the fall semester,” Petron said. “Business Affairs still hasn’t given (MCGB) a finalized schedule.”
Petron said he is frustrated with delays in the renovation timetable and with the lack of information he is receiving about the process.
“I want to get the fourth floor done as soon as possible, but not if the relocated student groups are not going to be able to get anything done for a school year,” he said.
A crucial concern regarding the fourth-floor renovations is obtaining a relocation and a renovation schedule, said Mike Gargano, assistant vice president for Student and Academic Support Services, who said the floor will likely not be ready when students return next fall.
“We could leave the fourth floor as is for now, and there is a possibility of renovating without displacing,” he said. “I’m confidant that we’ll reach something.”
Gargano said he expects to have the finalized schedule for the fourth floor by the end of this week. But Petron said he is frustrated that the fourth-floor renovations have not started yet.
“If we don’t start doing something, how is anything going to get done?” Petron said.
“The budget for the project has increased $4 million (due to the delays),” he said. “We now have $26 million to work with for the renovations.”
Petron said he is happy to be working with a larger budget but questioned the amount of “spending and overspending” that already has occurred.
Gargano said renovation plans have been “numerous” and “largely unconfirmed” this year.
“The only part of the Marvin Center that has a definite confirmed renovation schedule is the ground floor,” he said.
Gargano estimated the ground floor will be completed “between the beginning of May and the middle of June.”
But miscommunication has plagued the renovation process, Petron said.
“I haven’t seen the finalized plans for the ground floor yet and it’s supposed to be done in a month,” he said.
Petron described the situation as “ridiculous” and said every time a problem with the renovations arises, “they bring in more management.”
Petron said he is upset about the way the upgrade is progressing, but sees renovations of the fourth floor as crucial because of the student office space that is housed there.
“I have to fight for the fourth floor and the fourth floor only at this point,” he said.
