Canaday Hall Construction Overrun Will Cost Faculty $250,000-$300,000

The Faculty must assume a cost overrun of between $250,000 and $300,000 above the initial projected cost of Canaday Hall.

Ward M. Canaday '07, who donated the projected expense of nearly $3 million in the spring of 1973, will not cover the extra cost, Francis A. Lawton, assistant for facilities in the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, said yesterday.

"His gift was a certain limited figure and beyond that the Faculty has to do it on its own," Lawton said last night.

The unexpected cost was due to the "fast-track" construction of the domitory, Lawton said. In this type of construction, the foundation is laid and building is begun before designs are complete.

President Bok acknowledged in a news conference yesterday that there will be an overrun on Canaday Hall, but he said that it would be "under 10 per cent."

Arguments Not Over

Hale Champion, vice president for finances, declined yesterday to specify any such additional expense, because he said "arguments" with the contractor were not complete.

If the Faculty must borrow from the treasury to cover the overrun, Lawton said it would look to special construction funds or to unrestricted funds.

The in-house "loan" would cost the Faculty a market-adjusted interest rate. However, since the money would be earning interest in the treasury, the interest rate on a loan would be reduced.

Part of the overrun, Lawton said, is due to a decision to expand the Canaday cellar from a "slab construction" to a "full basement."

But Lawton said that Vice-President Champion will have to negotiate a loan for this expense on behalf of the University, since the basement will be used for University administrative offices.

Lawton said that when the design of the dormitory was changed after construction began to meet "long-range uses," costs went up.

"The University did not lose," he said. "It's a much better building now than when it was planned."