A3 • THE METROPOLITAN • NOVEMBER 20, 2008

METRO
“I came up with the strategy of watch-
ing the news while hanging upside
down some time ago.”
- JIMMIE BRALEY in InSight A8
TARA MOBERLY • NEWS EDITOR • tmoberly@mscd.edu
THIS WEEK
EVENTS
11.21 Golden
Key International
Honour Society new
member induction
ceremony
3 - 10 p.m.
Tivoli 320 Section ABC
Baerresen Ballroom

11.22
Thanksgiving Dance
Bash
Noon - 6 p.m.
Sigi’s Cabaret

11.24 Campus
closed for Fall Break
The Auraria Library
will be open Nov. 24
- Nov. 26 8 a.m. to 6
p.m., Nov. 28 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. and Nov.
29 - Nov. 30 9 a.m. to
5 p.m.
The Library will be
The Metro neighborhood of the future is depicted in an artist’s rendering. The L-shaped building across the street from the Tivoli will be the closed on Nov. 27
first structure built. The project could break ground as early as 2010. (Illustration by Chris Geddes of studio INSITE) in observance of
Thanksgiving.
More Room sought, tuition hike possible Classes resume on
Dec. 1.

Metro searches for space, money INDEX

By ANDREW FLOHR-SPENCE
and TARA MOBERLY
THE METROPOLITAN
Metro officials presented
its plans for the first phase of
the college’s future construc-
tion at a series of meetings
this week.
But with a projected price
tag of $52 million and a bleak
outlook on state funding for
higher education in the next
few years, Metro officials do
not know how the building
will be funded, adding that
hikes in student fees and tu-
ition might be necessary to
pay for the construction.
The first structure, a
143,000 square foot L-shaped
building, will be the future
home to all student services
and much of the college’s
administration, and will
serve as the public identity
for Metro. One of the master
plan’s objectives is to create a
neighborhood for each of the
schools where they can create
a unique identity.
The building will be situ-
ated along Auraria Parkway
where the Tivoli parking lot is
currently located.
Natalie Lutes, Metro’s vice
president of administration
and finance, said she did not
want to give any specifics, but
her staff was looking at “mul-
tiple options” to finance the
Metro neighborhood.
One of the master plan’s
objectives is to create a neigh-
borhood for each of the
schools where they can create
a unique identity.
Metro plans to meet with
its financial advisor Nov. 20 to
discuss the options in greater
detail, Lutes said, but fund-
ing for the first phase of the
building might come from a
student fee, an increase in tu-
ition, and/or a new option: a
loan taken out by Metro.
Earlier this year, Gov. Bill
Ritter signed a law allowing
Metro to take out credit in its
own name, whereas previ-
ous financing went through
Auraria Higher Education
Center, the institution that
collectively represents Metro,
UCD, and CCD. The change
will not affect AHEC. All build-
ings already built and to be
built by AHEC will stay under
its control, but each school’s
neighborhood will be its own
responsibility to fund.
Lutes said the solution
would most likely be a mix of
funding from fees, tuition and
other sources.
“I am really excited about
the direction they’re taking
with the newest designs,”
president of Metro’s Student
Government Assembly An-
drew Bateman said.
The plans take into ac-
count Metro’s need for a
more user-friendly front of-
fice, a central place that stu-
dents identify with and feel
comfortable hanging out in,
he said. “Overall, I am really
happy with the plan. My only
reservation is to see where the
costs fall.”
Bateman said that while
he acknowledged the college’s
need for more space, he was
concerned about current stu-
dents having to fund a build-
ing they may never use. If a
student fee is needed to pay for
the future building, current
students should get something
in return, he said.
Bateman is glad to see the
administration bringing stu-
dents into the process with
the master plan public meet-
ings, and he would like to see
more student participation in
the process. “I really do believe
students would approve a fee,
but they would appreciate be-
ing asked,” he said.
Lutes said if a student fee
is chosen, the college would
ask the students to approve it
through a vote.
Another concern is what
will happen to parking at Au-
raria. The first new building
alone will eliminate nearly
50 percent of the spaces in
the Tivoli parking lot, and
the drawings of the projected
campus in 2020 are visibly
lacking any parking lots at all.
“This is long-term plan-
ning,” said Chris Geddes, ar-
chitect at Studio INSITE, one
of three design firms hired by
Metro for the project. While
as much existing parking as
possible will be maintained,
Metro has a limited amount
of space and buildings come
before parking, Geddes said.
“We have to maximize the use
of the 140 acres we have. We
have to plan for future growth.
Metro needs space.”
At an earlier masterplan
presentation, Metro President
Stephen Jordan said the col-
lege would have to turn away
students within a few years if
more space couldn’t be found.
The latest update on the
college’s construction plans
includes a Metro neighbor-
hood and a central plaza sur-
rounded by at least five new
buildings. The plans outline
the size and general footprint
of the buildings according
to projected space needs but
don’t detail not the exact de-
sign of the buildings.
INSIGHT ... A8
SPORTS ... A11
METROSPECTIVE ... B1
TIMEOUT ... B3
AUDIOFILES ... B6
WEATHER
11.20 • Light Rain
High: 52/Low: 29
11.21 • Mostly Sunny
High: 49/Low: 25
11.22 • Mostly Sunny
High: 58/Low: 27
11.23 • Partly Cloudy
High: 56/Low: 29
11.24 • Partly Cloudy
High: 54/Low: 28
11.25 • Mostly Sunny
High: 56/Low: 32
11.26 • Partly Cloudy
High: 51/Low: 30
By Kendell LaRoche
CORRECTION
To notify The Metropolitan of
an error in any of our reports,
please contact Editor-in-Chief
James Kruger at jkruger1@
mscd.edu