ASU plans to build a new 75,000 square-foot bookstore for the Tempe Campus.

The estimated $30 million project’s purpose is to address space issues associated with the University’s growth.

Student enrollment reached 67,082 students this year, one of the largest student populations in the nation. The current bookstore was built in 1982, when ASU’s enrollment was around 30,000 students.

The Arizona Board of Regents approved the project, estimated to begin construction in 2010, in its Capital Improvement Plan last month, though it is labeled as low priority.

“We’ve been looking at the possibility for a larger store for 10 years,” said Ray Jensen, associate vice president of University Business Services.

He said that the need for a new bookstore stemmed from the imbalance between student enrollment and the bookstore’s size.

In an e-mail interview, the new bookstore’s project manager Diane Rowley said she was not aware of a project schedule at the time.

According to the Capital Improvement Plan, the current Tempe campus bookstore is the smallest of any flagship bookstore in the Pac-10.

The current Tempe Bookstore is 44,148 total square feet, as listed in ASU’s Facilities Data Sheets Web site.

UA’s bookstore is 153,004 total square feet, according to UA’s Real Estate Administration Web site, which is more than three times larger than Tempe’s bookstore. UA has a student population of around 38,000.

James Selby, assistant director of University Bookstores, said the bookstore’s inventory is limited by its size, both in the warehouse and on the floor.

The bookstore has difficulty in bringing in new products, he said.
“We sell through [old products] but we just can’t expand,” he said.

Tony Garcia, a teller senior at the Tempe Bookstore, said the bookstore does carry all required items, like books and supplies.

Many of the difficulties, Garcia said, come during the busy first weeks of classes.

“We have to cut back on stuff like clothing,” he said. “Non book items are shoved aside for supplies and textbooks.”

These items include gifts, novelties and generally items without academic purposes, he said.

Several possible building sites are being considered for the new bookstore.

One option is an area close to the Memorial Union, toward the center of campus.

The other is further north, on University-owned real estate near University Drive and Mill Avenue, Jensen said.

After the project is complete, the current bookstore would be used for office space and to house existing University programs, Jensen said.

From a long-term perspective, he said the University would probably use the site for another building project.

Lorenzo Martinez, assistant executive director of capital resources for ABOR, said lower priority projects like the new bookstore sometimes are sometimes inactive for years on end.

Factors like limited finances and higher-priority projects sometimes cause projects to linger on the Capital Improvement Plan for several years, Martinez said

After being approved in the plan, a project is described in detail in a Capital Development Plan.

If the regents approve that plan, he said, the project is typically started within the same year.

Construction on the new bookstore is currently projected to start in 2010. Jensen said that the University would be fortunate to start that early.

Reach the reporter at cogino@asu.edu.