Spring Break
Arch finish delayed till summer
Kate Taylor
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: News
|
"We were hoping to do the unveiling this semester," Valenzuela said.
The arch, which is under construction between the Student Union and Music Building, is now scheduled to be completed from late June to late August of this year, he said.
"We've run into some technical difficulties with the glass structure," Valenzuela said, referring to the 14- to 15-foot, solid-glass wingspan of the United Farm Workers' eagle that will be embedded across the top of the arch.
The eagle's wings consist of 20 to 30 blocks of glass, he said, each weighing about 10 to 30 pounds.
"In the last month or so," Valenzuela said, "we've been trying to figure out how to lay the glass wingspan out."
He said the project's engineers have been working on several ways to fix the wingspan securely into the arch without losing the integrity of the artist's design.
Judith Baca, who designed the arch, "was not happy" with the engineers' alterations, Valenzuela said.
"It's interesting to me because this is where art and science and construction meet," he said.
Though the project will be prolonged, he said it will not cost any more money because contracts for the arch's different elements, including the cost of labor, have already been secured.
"The biggest part for labor was really all that demolition and heavy concrete work," Valenzuela said, "and that's already been completed."
Some students said they don't mind the construction or the fence staying up longer than expected.
"I would love to be able to walk through the gate," said Dominic Griego, a senior kinesiology major, referring to the chain-link fence around the construction site. "It's not that big of a deal."
Wendell Areola, a senior graphic design major, said he didn't even know what the construction was for until today.
"I just thought it was an inconvenience," said Elise Wong, a senior graphic design major, "because we couldn't walk through there."
Valenzuela said the reason for the date range for completion is that they want to leave room for late small setbacks, like late deliveries.
Be the first to comment on this story