Panel Sees Rhyme and Reason for Poetry Center

By Howard Fischer
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

PHOENIX - State lawmakers agreed Thursday to let the University of Arizona construct a somewhat upscale Poetry Center - but only after being told that private donors will bear most of the cost.

On a voice vote, members of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee authorized letting the university use $1.9 million of school funds toward the center. The balance of the cost, about $4.9 million, is expected to come from private sources.

Several legislators balked after staffers pointed out that the direct construction costs come out to $286 a square foot. That figure grows to $385 a square foot when all the costs for the building are included.

That is far higher than the charges for various other buildings being constructed at the UA and the other two state universities.

UA lobbyist Greg Fahey said part of the reason is the specialized nature of the building. He said there are special needs for climate control because it will house an extensive collection of books.

Bob Smith, the university’s director of facilities, design and construction, said the relatively small size of the free-standing building - less than 18,000 square feet - also makes it more expensive on a per-square-foot basis. Smith also said there are security issues.

But Fahey acknowledged to legislators that the center was designed to be nicer than the average university building.

“In order to attract donations, buildings need to have a little more luster to them than doing it as cheaply as one might in a purely publicly funded building,” he said.

For example, Smith said after the meeting, the ceilings are higher. And the building won’t have the standard poured-concrete floor of other buildings, though he stressed “it won’t be marble.”

And the windows are designed to look out over a garden, which will serve as an extension of the building where people can read and study.

Fahey said the university already has close to $3 million in donations “in the bank” for the center with “hard pledges” of another $691,000, which is supposed to come in by September. There is no reason to believe the UA won’t be able to meet its $4.9 million goal, he said, promising legislators that he would not come back for more than the $1.9 million now being sought.

None of that convinced Sen. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa.

Johnson said she has no problem with the university wanting a nicer building than the state would normally pay for. She said if that’s the case, the UA should raise the entire cost from outsiders.

But Sen. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Tucson, said rejecting the state funding would send the message to universities that they should not do the things that are necessary to try to attract private dollars.

The Helen S. Schaefer Building is designed to be a permanent home for the Poetry Center. Gail Browne, the center’s executive director, has said it is one of the country’s most prestigious literary centers and boasts one of the most comprehensive collections of contemporary poetry - items now stored off-campus.