Monday, January 6, 1997
ASUCLA:
Association offers more space, new amenities to studentsBy John
Digrado
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
After more than two years of construction, the students’
association unwrapped its holiday gifts early with the re-opening
of the newly renovated Ackerman Union.
Considered a model for student stores across the country by
ASUCLA officials, the new Union boasts an additional 30,000
square feet of space over its predecessor, in which the association
has added numerous improvements and additions.
"I want to make the UCLA Store the leading store in the
country," said Carol Ann Smart, director of the student store.
"When universities look at student stores, I want ours to be the
benchmark that everyone will look to."
Opened three months past its projected opening date and well
over budget, ASUCLA officials are keeping their fingers crossed
that the concrete and red slate add-on will salvage the association
from the depths of its financial troubles.
For much of the 1990s, the association has been losing money
because of a weak economy and a series of poor judgment calls.
Hoping to pull out of the tailspin, board members in recent
years have voted to spend more in hopes of making more  a
strategy whose outcome is yet unknown.
Over the course of its construction, Ackerman has faced numerous
setbacks, from construction flaws to materials shortages, funding
problems to cost overruns.
But any doubt that the building would not be delayed further was
laid to rest over winter break, when Student Store employees moved
merchandise from the Towell temporary building to the new store the
week of Dec. 16. The new store was opened the following week.
While the expansion was part of a larger $57 million
construction project that includes the seismic renovation and
expansion of Kerckhoff Hall and Ackerman Union, ASUCLA officials
saw the construction as a perfect time to bring the store up to
date.
"The store hasn’t been remodeled since 1976 and having a new,
sparkling facility is crucial to efficiency, service and image,"
Smart said.
Additions to the store include a cosmetics counter, a larger
market and computer store, and an expanded Bearwear department.
Textbooks have moved from their temporary home in the Plaza
Building to their former home in A-level Ackerman, while the
BookZone has moved from A to B level.
Hoping to capture the essence of UCLA by using campus images in
the store’s decorations and fixtures, interior designers brought
the best aspects of UCLA’s design into the unfinished, exposed
concrete interior, said ASUCLA Facilities Director Michael Otavka.
Old-fashioned light fixtures and recognizable brick designs are
also part of the remodeling.
"There’s a lot more space, more room for people to shop in,"
said Sandra Vargas, a second-year undeclared student and employee
at the new store. "We’ve been waiting a long time and gone through
a lot of changes. I hope people will like it," she said, folding a
UCLA shirt and placing it in one of the new wooden bins.
Other students felt that while the new store was a lot nicer
than Towell, its design left something to be desired.
"It looks nicer than it was, but it looks like a mini-mall,"
said Wayne Labat, a second-year biology student.
The Viewpoint Cafe, in the large room over the main entrance to
the student store, will serve as both UCLA’s newest java joint and
a comfortable place for students to study.
By making a trip to the Student Store more convenient and
comfortable, officials are banking that an increase in customer
count and satisfaction will turn a large profit for the
association.
As it stands, the ASUCLA Board of Directors has requested a $20
million loan from the university to pay for the expansion, only
part of which the university will be able to fulfill.
Students, faculty and staff alike were surprised to see
construction workers tearing down the main steps up to the building
last spring after inspectors found a flaw in the steps’ height and
depth  one that could only be corrected by about a month’s
worth of unplanned construction.
But while association officials insisted that steps would not
affect the planned opening date of the first day of Fall Quarter, a
shortage of construction materials did.
Construction crews and management officials weren’t able to
obtain flooring materials, such as tile and carpeting, or wood for
the A-level ceiling until after the projected opening date.
The delay kept the student store in Towell until the last week
of Fall Quarter, when crews were putting the finishing touches on
the new store.
But for all of its budgetary and construction problems, the
opening of the new student union represents the end of continuous
construction in Westwood Plaza.
"We’re excited to reach this milestone," said ASUCLA Director
Patricia Eastman. "It means an end to the noise, dust and disorder
of construction  problems the campus has been putting up with
for two long years."
With Daily Bruin staff reports.
JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin
Students lounge in the newly renovated B-level UCLA Store next
to the central staircase ascending to the revamped textbook
department.