EDITORIAL: "Parking Lot of Dreams"

Administrators say theAdministrators say thecampus center we'veAdministrators say thecampus center we'vewished for will be doneAdministrators say thecampus center we'vewished for will be doneby 1996. Is this heaven?Administrators say thecampus center we'vewished for will be doneby 1996. Is this heaven?No, it's still a parking lot.Administrators say thecampus center we'vewished for will be doneby 1996. Is this heaven?No, it's still a parking lot._____________________________ Hell, they'll come even if you don't build it. That's the lesson the University has learned, as nostalgia tugs at the heartstrings and pulls at the pocketbooks of alumni every year. A good round of "The Red and The Blue" can send any true Pennsylvanian digging for his or her checkbook. And just think of the good cause -- a Campus Center, whose location along Walnut Street between 36th and 37th streets would be the focal point of the "Penn Experience" for their children. With library space, music listening rooms, computing rooms, performing arts space, office space, retail areas, student lounges and meeting rooms, the Campus Center would truly be the new center of campus and a very high-exposure location for any philanthropic donor's plaque. But these plaques are nowhere to be found, and it's quite easy for us to read between the lines. The white lines, that is. The white lines of the parking lot which, through all the hubbub and commotion about the imminent ground-breaking for the Campus Center, has remained untouched. President Sheldon Hackney ventured his educated guess back in 1988 that students, rather than cars, would be gathering at the site by 1992. In 1991, administrators said that while they had originally hoped that the Revlon Campus Center would be completed by 1993 or 1994, fears that the University would lose all state funding were enough to temporarily stall the engines of progress. But May 1991 brought with it the green tides of the Class of 1991's $12,000 donation, matched by the Class of 1966 -- both earmarked for the Campus Center. In October 1991, administrators conjectured that groundbreaking would begin in 1993, and the building would be completed in 1995. Visions of the Center's brick facade with limestone trim danced before their eyes but still, the only gorgeous mosaic to be seen was one of Chevrolets and Hondas. In May 1992, the Class of 1967's Penn Pride spilled over in the form of a $1 million dollar donation for the Center's lobby. And, happily enough, although big cuts were made in the University's budget, construction on the Center would continue as previously scheduled under the 1993 budget plan. And this week, administrators publicly said construction on the Center will not begin until fall 1994, and its doors will not open to students until 1996. Time is money -- as any parking lot attendant can tell you. And just think of the good cause -- a Campus Center, whose location along Walnut Street between 36th and 37th streets will be the focal point of the "Penn Experience" for our grandchildren.