Officals still backing Revlon

Faculty, administrators reaffirm support for center University faculty and administrators said yesterday the proposed Revlon Center is a "very high priority," and fundraising efforts are ongoing for the scaled-back campus center project. "This is definitely something [the Trustees] are not ignoring," said Revlon Center Committee member Stephen Gale. But Gale, who is also chairperson of the Regional Sciences Department, said Trustees know they cannot construct such a costly building as was first envisioned. "I think that it is not a priority to make a promise they can't keep," Gale said. "It's hard to raise money, and raising the $25 million [needed to build a scaled-down version of the center] will be very hard." University officials said last week that the project's original estimated $60 million price tag may be cut by about one-quarter and a third of the square footage eliminated. And they said construction may not begin until 1995, a year later than the most recent estimate. Interim President Claire Fagin said yesterday she hopes to begin construction on a smaller, financially feasible center by next December. "I want to move ahead," she said. "We are committed to a campus center?that will give us what we want and what we need." Trustee Michael Crow said it has been difficult to solicit donations without detailed plans for the building. "It is difficult to go out and raise the sums needed until you have significant naming opportunities," said Crow, chairperson of the Trustees' facilities and campus planning committee. People are more likely to fund specific rooms, which will later bear their names, than to give to a general building fund, he said. But Revlon Center Committee member Robert Tintner said he is concerned that Trustees will decide to cut the most important parts of the building while retaining decorative, elaborate parts of the old design. "If they're going to scrap much of what is really needed, like the meeting rooms, the programming space, and the theatre, then its not worth building it," said Tintner, a third-year Law student. Tintner, who has been involved with the Revlon project since he was a University undergraduate, said he is concerned that every time the building seems to reach its final stages "it keeps getting delayed." The center experienced major cutbacks once before, when an entire building of meeting rooms was removed from the plan due to cost considerations. That building is now part of a projected "Phase Two" for the center. "I'm not sure if we're ever going to see 'Phase One'," Tintner said. Both Fagin and Crow said fundraising for a smaller, cheaper building will be easier. "I think we will be a lot more successful in raising the money we need for a lower-cost building," said Fagin. "When the plans become more realistic, the fundraising potential is increased."

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