The construction of Fresno State’s Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Union (RSU) has paused until the university receives final approval of the building plans from the State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFM).
This approval is a needed requirement for any construction on state property.
Debbie Adishian-Astone, vice president for administration and chief financial officer, said, “It’s the design build team’s responsibility to prepare those plans and to submit them to the fire marshal for approval, as well as other plan check agencies that are required as part of the project.”
Because of this delay, it is uncertain when all the steel beams will be installed, and there’s no clear timetable of when the exterior enclosure and interior build-out will be finished.
Plans for the project were submitted to the SFM’s office two weeks ago, and those plans have yet to be approved.
“In this case, the plans have needed to go back to the fire marshal a couple times and now we’re on our third “back-check,” Astone said. “And that’s not unusual for a project of this size.”
A back-check refers to the process of getting a project approved by the SFM office. The SFM’s office examines any possible concern regarding construction and sends corrections or notations to the design team. The process’s goal is to make sure that the design meets the regulations in the state’s fire retardancy requirements.
According to Astone, the process for the SFM’s review and eventual approval took longer than what the design-build team had originally hoped for.
As the university is waiting for the SFM to approve of the construction, the completion date for construction of the student union is unknown. But Astone is hopeful that it will be done by fall 2021 as initially planned.
Since the demolition of the amphitheater and the Keats building, Astone said that the construction has consisted of utility work. The utility work on-site includes electrical work, hot and chilled water, natural gas and an I.T. communication cable.
A steel structure has also been added. Thirty pieces of primary structured steel were installed already, and another 788 pieces still need to be installed.
Because of the need for the SFM’s office to approve of the project, construction has been paused.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected construction as well with limitations on what the university was able to do, but construction did go on despite the stoppage of all in-person activities in March 2020.
“With the pandemic and the transition to virtual instruction, and then with the shelter in place, there were limitations on what we could do with the site and how many folks could be on the site given the public health guidelines,” Astone said.
“We are anticipating that hopefully we’ll be able to accelerate some activities and make up some of the time,” Astone said.
Construction plans began in March 2017. After students voted to build the student union, construction began in November 2019, leading to the closure of Keats Avenue near the Kremen School of Education building. The groundbreaking occurred in February 2020, and the Keats building and the 57-year-old historic amphitheater were torn down in March.
The Resnick Student Union is the newest of three student unions on campus and will be located between the Speech Arts building and the University Center.
The student union is planned to have a $298 per year ($149 per semester) price tag for students, which will take effect once the grand opening takes place. This is a $60 per year increase from the $238 yearly fee students are currently paying.
The total budget for completion of the project stands at $60 million, with around $47.82 million going towards construction, $2.54 million going to design and $2.92 million going toward construction management.
About $956,000 will go toward contingency, and approximately $2.52 million will go toward fixtures, furnishings and equipment. The remaining $1.59 million will go toward other things, including approvals, permits and insurance.
“That project budget is still kind of what we’re working with,” Astone said. “But in addition, there have been some very generous philanthropic gifts that will also be used to help with any additional costs or amenities that are added to the building, including when we get closer to some of the finishes and some of the technology and some of the furnishings.”
According to a press release from Fresno State on Sept. 24, 2019, donations toward the RSU, include $10 million from Lynda and Stewart Resnick, $1 million from the Leon S. Peters Foundation, $250,000 from Marvin and Jane Baxter and $25,000 from Ryan and Ashley Jacobsen.
Jacqueline Campos, chair of the USU board of directors, has a goal to keep students informed about and involved in the construction process, through social media.
“We’re using our platform to engage students in a time-lapse and also creating surveys of what the students want to see in the building,” Campos said. “Some of the questions on the surveys would be like it ranges from what type of furniture you want to see in the building.”
