The UVI Research and Technology Park plans to solicit bids for a pared-back on-campus center this summer and now projects the long-awaited facility should open its doors in early 2013, RTPark management said at a board of directors meeting Thursday.
UVI President David Hall, who is one of the directors, urged the RTPark management to try to push up the opening date as much as possible, saying the school urgently needed classrooms.
The RTPark is an economic-development initiative begun by the university. The most visible component will be a 20,000-square-foot facility on UVI’s St. Croix campus with classrooms and office space.
But the core of the park is a tax incentive program for technology companies, which may be located anywhere in the territory and is up and running and generating some revenue now.
The RTPark has about $9 million for the on-campus facility, including $3.5 million from the V.I. Public Finance Authority and another $5.5 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
But when it put the work out for bid, the lowest bid came to $14.2 million, leaving a $5.2 million shortfall. Since then, the technology park has been looking into getting more funding and at ways to lower the cost of the facility.
On Thursday, the directors voted to authorize a partial redesign based around cost-cutting recommendations in a report from RTPark Facilities and Operations Director Denise Kurg.
During the teleconferenced meeting, Director Roger Dewey, who also heads the St. Croix Foundation, said changes include cutting out about 1,850 square feet of structure and cutting down on parts that were arguably "overdesigned," reducing the volume of concrete in the footer, foundation and cisterns.
Director William Delone asked what the cost of generating new architectural designs would be.
"It is going to vary depending on what path is taken, but it will be under $200,000," said Kurg.
Hall pressed Kurg and the directors on the new projected completion date of Feb. 2013, saying the sooner UVI has access to new classrooms, the better.
"One of the reasons we got involved in this is because of some pressing needs we have with the building of classrooms, et cetera," Hall said. "If there is any way this can be shortened by a few months, it would be extremely important to us at UVI…. It would certainly be more beneficial to us if it came closer to the beginning of the academic year."
Dewey, who chairs the park’s real estate administration committee overseeing capital development, said he would talk with Aramark Corp., which is overseeing the project, about "compressing the schedule."
RTPark Executive Director Roger Zumwalt said he had no objection to starting the discussion, but predicted "there will come a time when it will become clear that compressing the time will have a price tag associated with it."
The directors also approved two 50-year leases with UVI for the facility; one for the RTPark to lease the land for the on-campus facility, and one for UVI to lease space within the RTPark.
