Document text
--> --> Southern Oregon University officials are hoping to redesign the campus' boxy, outdated library into an eye-pleasing, technological center. Ashland Daily Tidings/DENISE BARATTA SOU library expansion moves ahead University waiting for word on bonds backed by lottery By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings The newly selected architects for the doubling of the Southern Oregon University Library have a challenge to not only prepare the facility for 21st century technology, but to turn the boxy, 1960s-era building into a visual centerpiece for the campus. SOU's Library Program and Design Committee and university officials recently selected Portland-based SRG Partnership over four other firms after a careful review process, SOU officials said. SRG Partnership will work with the design committee over the coming months on the renovation and expansion of the library, built in 1966. "It (the building) will look different than it is," said Sue Burkholder, library director and design committee member. "We want to try and blend it in with other styles on campus and not introduce a new style. We want it to echo other styles. We want to make it the focus of the campus. It hasn't been, visually, in the past. It will be an interesting project for the architects." SRG Partnership has designed academic and library buildings throughout Oregon, Washington, California and Idaho. Within the Oregon University System, the firm's projects include the Oregon State University Valley Library, the University of Oregon Lillis Building Complex and Grayson Hall, and the Portland State University Digital Media Arts Center. Groundbreaking on the library expansion and renovation project is tentatively scheduled for October 2002. The building could be completed as soon as the spring or summer of 2004, Burkholder said. The project will add space for electronic and multimedia classrooms, a multimedia area, an information commons, a technology lab with technical services, reading areas, study and seminar rooms, a large meeting room, a main lobby and a coffee bar and study area. Laptop computer ports will be installed throughout the complex. Additionally, the project provides increased space for the general collection, reference materials, government publications, maps, periodicals, special collections and archives, according to SOU officials. During the Oregon legislative session that ended this summer, lawmakers awarded $15 million - $5 million in lottery-backed bonds and $10 million in general obligation bonds - to SOU for the project, thanks in large part to the work of Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland. The SOU Foundation in turn is expected to raise $5 million through a fundraising campaign to finance the $20 million, 65,000-square-foot expansion. However, the $5 million from lottery-backed bonds has been in limbo since the Oregonians for Gambling Awareness Organization filed a lawsuit challenging the state's lottery. With a legal cloud hanging over the lottery, Oregon Treasury Department officials placed a moratorium on issuing nearly $300 million in lottery-backed bonds that would fund projects throughout the state, including a portion of the SOU project. Future lottery revenues would be needed to pay back the bonds. In October, a judge ruled the voter-approved lottery is legal under the Oregon Constitution, saying that challenges to the constitutionality of ballot measures must be brought within 10 years of the enactment of the measure. But late this week, the Oregonians for Gambling Awareness Organization filed an appeal of the judge's decision on the last day of the appeals period, causing the treasury department to extend the moratorium on the issuance of bonds, according to Kate Richardson, chief of staff for Treasurer Randall Edwards. "There's still a legal cloud over the lottery. Had they not appealed, that would have removed the cloud," Richardson said. SOU officials said they do not need the lottery funding immediately, and the moratorium will not hold up the start of the library project. If SOU ends up losing the $5 million in lottery funding, the university could pursue other funding sources, officials said. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing