Financial troubles delay renovations

Components of the University's $380 million dorm and dining overhaul continue to remain in doubt, as Penn officials attempt to secure funding for a new college house that would provide 1,000 new beds. Nearly a month and a half ago, University sources said troubled finances had delayed both the construction of a new dorm planned for Hamilton Village and the rest of the decade-long, $380 million renovation project. The project is the University's most ambitious renovation effort in 30 years. It seeks to renovate every dorm on campus, adding 1,000 new beds in the process. Director of College Houses and Academic Services David Brownlee said that there is not yet a set date for the project's completion. "This will be a year-by-year review project," he said, explaining that the University evaluates its plans annually before moving ahead with each stage of construction. Sources close to the project had said that the financial woes were partly due to financial problems in the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which lost close to $300 million during the 1998 and 1999 fiscal years before beginning a recovery in the most recent fiscal year. When announced in 1998, the University sought to fund the project through various existing streams of income, including the Penn-owned Sheraton Hotel on Chestnut Street. And according to Associate Vice President of Campus Services Larry Moneta, these sources will still contribute the largest part of the project's finances. "The Sheraton Hotel, for instance -- the money that it generates is dedicated to housing and dining renewal," Moneta said. "Our goal is still to fund the project through existing resources." But financial considerations have forced the project's overseers to seek other sources of funding, with Penn alumnus Alan Hassenfeld, owner of Hasbro Toys, leading a committee that attempts to raise $35 million. In the past several months, according to Brownlee, Hassenfeld has raised $10 million. While the money raised so far comes from several sources, Brownlee would only provide details of two specific donations. He said one donation was from the Class of 1975, while the other was from the parents of the Class of 2000. Both of these groups will have outside spaces in or around the Quadrangle named in honor of them. Brownlee said that the University is still dedicated to its goal of 1,000 new beds, but he did not specify any clear way to produce them. "I can't say anything more than that [the addition of the new beds] continues to be within the University's master plan," he said. However, Quad renovations are continuing as planned. Renovations on the eastern third of the Quad -- the section now being referred to as College House B -- were completed this summer. Next summer, College House C -- what Brownlee calls "the central space of the Quad" -- will be renovated. The summer of 2002 will see the completion of renovations in the Quad, with House A at the west end being finished, along with major landscaping work. The Quad renovations will overhaul the mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems while adding suites, new libraries and other amenities to attract upperclassmen to the traditionally freshman dorm complex. With the $75 million Quad project set for completion in 2002, Penn will begin Hamilton Village renovations later that year, overhauling the Class of 1920 Commons and closing one high rise per year for major work.