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Construction crews prepare to pour concrete in late October to complete a new walkway to the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks.
PHOTO/Patricia Liles/For the Journal | |
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Construction costs for the multi-year expansion project at the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks have exceeded the planned $32.75 million budget by nearly 30 percent, or $9.25 million.
According to a funding request the university's board of regents will consider during their Feb. 16-18 meeting, potential sources for the additional money are borrowing funds, museum receipts, use of unrestricted funds, reallocation of funds or a statewide pledge.
Nearly half of the extra money, $4.5 million, will go directly to increased construction costs for the 43,791 square-foot expansion project, according to Kate Ripley, director of public affairs for the University of Alaska statewide. "There were a number of change orders with the project," she said.
The remaining $4.75 million will cover associated costs for redesigning exhibits and renovations to the existing 40,280 square-foot facility.
Originally scheduled to be complete in January, final finish work continues in the expansion, said Kerynn Fisher, communications coordinator at the museum. "The transition between new construction and renovation has been blurred," she said.
Recently built expansion areas should be finished at the end of February. Then attention will turn to renovating the existing facility. "We are expecting renovations to go much faster. The new wing has a lot of curves and angles, while renovation (of existing space) has a lot more 90-degree angles," Fisher said.
Museum staff hopes renovations will be complete in April, allowing summer months to be used to move into new space and to create new exhibits. The existing gallery depicting the five regions of Alaska will remain open to visitors during the summer, Fisher said. A new museum store will be open, as will the new entrance.
Plans currently call for a Sept. 10 opening, which may also include the new art gallery in the expansion wing, "...if everything falls into place," Fisher said.
Other major construction projects at the Fairbanks campus includes a 42,000-square-foot facility, named the BICS-BIRD Biological Research and Diagnostics Facility. Foundation work was completed last fall and work on the $19 million project should resume this spring, with completion scheduled in early 2006.
The Tanana Valley Campus Allied Health Center, located in downtown Fairbanks, is also receiving a $1.5 million renovation that project is scheduled to be complete this June.
