Fine Arts renovations to cost 15 million

After donations could not come up with enough money to help fund a new building where the Golden Toaster once stood, the money will go to renovations of the Fine Arts Center at Utah State University.

David Cowley, the business and finical vice president at USU, said that lining up the vision of the university with the vision of donors can be difficult. He says a new building could cost up to $50 million and that the money could not be gathered from donations to do so. Instead the money will go to renovations that could cost $15 million.

The university has to get approval from the state to fund any project that costs above $4 million. Each proposal competes against any other state building proposal to get backed. Once approved, the state manages and oversees the project.

Even with a lot of the funding coming from donors, the state still had to mandate the renovations.

Incentives are a large part of gaining donations. Cowley says common incentives would be naming a building after a donor, or maybe a lecture hall. There is a fine balance with offering the right incentives to achieve the desired amount of donations.

With this renovation, along with most builds on campus, no money comes out of student tuition.

"No money will come out of tuition or fees unless the student body votes on it." Cowley said.

Currently the only building that is being partially funded through student fees is the new recreational center by the field house.

Tenth and Sixth intersection rework begins

By: Jason Tebbs

Logan's public works department started to rework the 1000 North and 600 East intersection earlier this week. The $800,000 project is scheduled to be finished by the end of June in preparation for extra traffic with the building of new apartments in the area.

The build is designed to line the intersection up and improve traffic flow. Before, 600 East jostled at the intersection making a four-way stop that caused frustration from the community.

"The problems were complaints," said Mark Nielsen, public works director for Logan. "We have been thinking about it for 10 years. The construction of Aggie Factory, which would bring more traffic, was a big reason to start the project."

Traffic lights will replace the stop signs making the area easier to navigate. Before this, drivers and pedestrians would have to figure who was going where and when they were going. With the expected increase in traffic, the area would have caused a bigger problem.

Before the project could begin,the land on the north-east corner of the intersection had to be purchased and demolished in order to curve the road to line up the intersection. A total of seven homes were torn down.

"Sixth East is projected to be one of the main trafficked areas," Nielsen said. "The plan is to connect more routes to offload Main Street."

For now, 1000 North is reduced to two lanes at the intersection opposed to it's usual three and works as a three-way stop.

"I guess when it is done it will be cool but I don't like it for now," said Megan Johnson, a resident in a near by apartment complex. "It's annoying. I like to drive, and all of that is getting in the way."

Update:

The intersection will be closed at times throughout the project. Signs near the area will be displaying closure dates.

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New things are being built everyday. These sites and projects directly shape the community we live in. What buildings are available, how the buildings fit in the community, what the buildings offer and what will it cost the community are all questions that need to be considered for any project. Building Blocks of Logan plans to answer these questions for Cache valley, with an emphasis to Utah State University.