The recent appearance of an 85-foot tower on the south shore of Tempe Town Lake signals the progress made on the new Tempe Center for the Arts. But shortages of construction supplies have presented delays for building crews.
The project is 45 percent complete since construction began in March 2004, according to Joe Salvatore, who designed the center and is a principal with Tempe-based Architeckton.
"The biggest challenge has been availability of materials," said Salvatore.
Steel and cement have been in short supply in recent months due to massive expansion and building locally and globally, he said.
The building's concrete construction should be completed by the end of the week, while the roof's steel construction will be completed in the next few months. The center's expected completion date is July 2006.
Don't expect to step into the center's doors in July, however.
"Complete and open are two different things," said Jodi Ulich, cultural services director for the city of Tempe.
Once construction is finished, the center will go through a series of acoustic and lighting setups before exhibits and performances will be scheduled, she said.
The Tempe Center for the Arts project came as the result of citizens' desire to progress toward a real art scene in the Tempe/Phoenix area.
The existing Tempe Performing Arts building is a converted office space in downtown Tempe.
"The art community will finally have a professional-level venue to perform and display their talents," Ulich said.
Christina Nebeker, a photography senior, said she thinks there is a real need for the arts center.
"It will be nice to have such a big space to display the overflow of students' art," she said.
Reach the reporter at bradley.butterfield@asu.edu.
