After four years of construction, South City’s new facility, which is designed to accommodate The School of Arts, Communication & New Media, is scheduled to open in time for fall semester.
The completion date for The Center for New Media was originally set for January 2012, but there were design changes near the project’s launch that delayed completion.
“It’s a pretty complicated project because whenever you do a remodel of building versus building a brand new building, there’s a lot of unforeseen conditions and things of that nature that affect construction schedule,” said project manager Frank Baker.
The project originally sprung from the college’s need to expand the ever-growing communication and art departments. The budget for the project was $42 million, which was funded by the state, students, SLCC and the Salt Lake City School District.
The construction team ran into structural issues along the way due to the building’s age.
They had to rebuild the structure of the building in order to stay up to code. Additionally, the roof over the old pool area was slated to be salvaged, but it was found to be in such disrepair that it needed replacement.
“We had to eliminate the east entrance from the project because of cost,” said Baker. “We were able to find funding to get that back in the project. That won’t be completed until the 29th of October.”
According to Baker, everything is on schedule for the move in July. The plan is to move the library and bookstore in early July, and then have the Communication and Art departments move toward the end of the month.
