The delay of the recreation center sparked controversy among University of Memphis students and alumni. Many accuse the university of breaking a promise to students who’ve paid an increased student fee to fund the new center. U of M President M. David Rudd said that center would be built and will talk to students during Thursday’s student government meeting at the University Center.Â
Helmsman reporter Jurnee Taylor interviewed President M. David Rudd about the recreation center delay.Â
Taylor: What went wrong with the rec center plans?Â
President M. David Rudd: “It’s a convergence of things as I have mentioned, and really the timing of it. We had a short notice request from the regents to respond to whether not we are going to release a contract with the rec center. In response to that, I had to make a quick decision. We don’t actually have to make an immediate decision on whether or not to let the contract [go] forward, and we recognized a convergence of variables primarily around the financial model. The financial model was not generating the dollars needed to build both the recreation center and the land bridge simultaneously [nor] at the level it had been planned. We did not have an adequate financial model [to build] a facility [costing] $63 million dollars plus the operational costs on the facility.â€
Taylor: Many students are saying that the rec center is not going to be built. Is that true?Â
Rudd: “That’s not accurate; we are absolutely building this. It’s just been delayed for 18 months. The fund that we established — and are collecting [for] — obligates us to build the rec center and the land bridge, which we are going to do. But we are going to have to do those within the financial constraints of the fee.
“I have no idea why [some] would come to that conclusion. We are absolutely building the rec center; it is delayed by 18 months, and I have actually no idea why they think we are not going to build an additional facility. When we get the new facility done, we will repurpose parts of the old facility. It is important to remember we build new buildings here all the time, and we repurpose the old onesâ€
Taylor: A the end of fall semester, we were told construction would begin at the start of spring 2017. What caused the original delay?
 Rudd: “It was issues on cost and planning. The original planning [was] slowed down on all of those facilities. If you look at the Centennial Place building, it was open almost a year later than the plan. It is a normal process of planning a building: making sure that the financial model is good, breaking ground and completing the project ordinary delays; and in this case, there were some delays associated. Part of that was making sure that we have a sound financial model for the building.â€
The University of Memphis will be revisiting its plans for a new recreation center after deciding the current estimate was too expensive, according to a campus-wide email sent out Feb.12 by U of M president M. David Rudd. The email stated that costs for the project ballooned to well over $60M, exceeding the boundaries of the original financial model and that the student fee supporting the land bridge and recreation center has generated well below projections (an estimated $15M.)
Taylor: Do Centennial Place and the music building have an effect on our ability to pay for the new rec center?
Rudd: “When we built Centennial Place, it had cost overruns [that] were more significant than anticipated. That increases what’s called debt serviced to the university. And so, part of the difficulty is that we can’t have a debt service that exceeds our capacity to reasonably pay for it. To add another $63 million to our debt service for the university as a whole in light of the other buildings that have been built recently, put[s] us in a challenging position in terms of debt service for the university.â€
 Taylor: To what extent did the new dorm push us back?
Rudd: “It has impact on our ability to pay for other building projects. We have a payment on that facility, and that payment ended up costing more than the original projected plan, very much like the rec center was escalating the cost. Originally, it was conceptualized in the $50-55 million range. It recently escalated to over $60-63 million. We have to be very careful and thoughtful, plan very carefully to the financial model and to break ground on it in 18 months. I understand it is frustrating for students, but I encourage students to see what may be more frustrating: for us to build a building that exceeds the financial model, our capacity to manage the financial model and have a series of tuition increases because of that. We are doing everything we can to hold tuition and fees down. Had we not made this decision, we would have some tuition increases that were unexpected and unanticipated.â€
Taylor: How will U of M be paying for the current rec center renovations?
Rudd: “We are using capital maintenance funds. Those are funds that allow us to improve existing buildings. This year in our budget, we have been allocated $14 million [to] what is referred to as capital maintenance funds. Those funds go to the air conditioning of some of our older buildings. We will not be using the student fee to do that.â€
Taylor: What about the land bridge and the parking garage?
Rudd: “Those are moving forward. The hope is the process would move fast enough to break ground this summer. Those contracts have already been established, so that process is moving forward.â€
Taylor: Students were told they could use the rec center after they graduate once it was built; is that still true?
Rudd: “That is something that I can talk to the student government about. I never confirmed that commitment was made. That was not something I was a part of. We will have to look at that from a financial perspective, but that is something I would be willing to consider.â€
