Posted Jan 31, 2008, 3:55 PM
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Facing zoning problems, nursing college entrance gets facelift
by Allison Gatlin
published on Thursday, January 31, 2008
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ASU's Downtown Phoenix nursing college is getting a makeover — but the tools, so far, are just pen and paper.
ASU began revising its vision for the under-construction nursing college after the building's plan did not meet zoning standards, said Ron McCoy, a University architect.
Changes will be made to the building's entrance on the corner of Third and Fillmore streets, he added.
"We changed [the entrance] to create a larger overhang to provide more shade and to create more of a kind of marquee or covered entrance to the building to make it more visible and more noticeable," McCoy said. "That makes it more user-friendly and makes the building a little better connected to the city."
The updates are in compliance with the controversial Urban Form Project — a new set of zoning guidelines, which aren't yet enforced but are being adopted by the University as a request from the city, he added.
The city of Phoenix and ASU are sharing the cost of the $28.5 million building, McCoy said, which is being built by SmithGroup, an architecture firm.
The changes to the building's plan will not affect the overall budget but will require some cost cuts in different areas — such as the quality of supplies or the landscaping near the building, McCoy said.
"We're talking about a 1 percent cost for the change," McCoy said. "The budget is about $28 million and so we think it might be several hundred thousand dollars to change, but 1 percent on a building this size is not that hard to absorb."
Aside from changes made to the entrance, McCoy said the building will be structured in the same way as originally planned.
The building itself will be five stories high and comprised of a 60-seat computer lab, a 200-seat multi-purpose room, and classrooms, conference rooms, faculty offices and research facilities.
The city of Phoenix will occupy one floor of the building and another floor remains undesignated, McCoy added.
"It's going to be an average, high-quality facility for a university in this day and age," McCoy said. "It's not elaborate —but not cheap — and it's going to be built very cleverly."
Ryan Anderssohn, a nursing freshman, said he's interested in attending the new college despite the commute it would mean if he were to live on the Tempe campus.
"It's going to be nice because it will make more room at the Tempe campus for the people who are trying to jam-pack their majors down here," he said.
Though Anderssohn dislikes the distance between the Tempe and Downtown Phoenix campuses, he said he will still be attending the college when it opens.
"I like Tempe. I live in the dorms here, and I might be [a community assistant], so as long as there isn't any additional cost to it, the commute isn't that bad," he added.
There will be another meeting on Feb. 14 in which McCoy, as well as the others involved in the project, will present the changes made to city officials.
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