Amphitheater project becoming overpriced

When SGA first announced the Student Center courtyard amphitheater project over a year ago, it sounded like a great idea to spend excess money in the SGA account. However, the project has become so expensive that it is in danger of becoming a money pit for the university.
The amphitheater was originally funded through the Think BIG! Project and was intended to be much cheaper than it has turned out to be. SGA originally funded the project up to $50,000, with matching donations from housing and the Physical Plant.
However, in the past year, we have seen the price go from a reasonable amount to the current “low” estimate of $460,000, which is $192,000 over the original architect’s estimate of the amphitheater’s cost.
Luckily, the UCA Board of Trustees needed to get rid of around $322,000 to decrease its own account to $200,000, so SGA was able to get the almost $200,000 necessary to fund the rest of the amphitheater’s cost. However, this is not a set amount and there is always the chance that the amphitheater will go over budget once again. If this happens, UCA will end up spending far more money that it should on a project that many current students will not be able to use anyway.
These fears are not eased by the fact that the company that made the lowest bid was Shields and Associates, the company that replaced windows in the President’s House. While the company did finish the job, UCA had to call them back to fix some things they slacked on.
While the amphitheater could be a great tool for attracting and keeping students, UCA and SGA need to keep in mind that there are plenty of other things in need attention on campus.
The original plan seemed like a good idea at first because the costs seemed relatively low compared to the current estimate. Before the plan was put out to bid, the cost was estimated at around $270,000. While still costly, the price seemed reasonable for the possible benefits of the project. However, when the lowest bid nearly doubles the original price, funding the project seems harder to justify.
Bids often go over the original estimate of the costs, but if the company goes over bid during construction, UCA will have to pay the extra costs as well.
Many other ideas were turned down to fund this project. While none of the other projects seemed as exciting or as big as the amphitheater, they may not have ended up being so expensive. The original idea of the Think BIG! Project was to propose fun ideas for students that SGA could fund itself.
SGA has done a good job finding money for the amphitheater project in creative ways, but the project is in danger of becoming a money pit for a university that has seen decreased enrollment in past years and has only recently cleared itself of a huge defecit.
SGA needs to make sure UCA students know why this is a good project for campus. SGA has not done much to inform the student population why the amphitheater is more than just an expensive hole in the ground.
The Student Center amphitheater can still be a great project that will serve UCA well, but care must be taken to ensure it does not become an overpriced vanity piece built by a company with a less-than-stellar background of contstruction on campus.
SGA has shown it has the best interests of the campus in its motives for most of the projects and issues it supports, but more needs to be done to prove to the student population that the amphitheater will be in the best interests of students, despite the costs.