The Government of the Student Body passed a resolution Wednesday to send a statement urging university administrators to complete work on a university housing community center.

The resolution states the university appears to be failing to fulfill its commitment to create a new community center. Students say the lack of a community center is decreasing the value of the University Student Apartment Community. The resolution calls for the university to reopen bids on construction of the project.

Progress on the center was temporarily stopped because bids for the project came in at $263,000 more than the $1.3 million budget approved by the Iowa Board of Regents.

The former University Student Apartment Community Center located at 100 University Village was turned into a new daycare facility by the university about 18 months ago.

Iowa State made an agreement with the University Student Apartment Council that 100 University Village would be renovated to make room for a new childcare facility and University Family Housing would receive $500,000 to build a new community center. The new childcare facility opened 18 months ago, and the new community center was scheduled to open at the same time.

Vice President for Business and Finance Warren Madden said he and the university are in agreement with students and GSB — there is a need for the community center.

“What students want and what we want is to have construction begin by late this winter or early spring. We’re trying to come to a set of decisions of how to move on with this project,” Madden said. “But we have to be able to afford this, which currently we can’t. We need to stop progress for a while to evaluate how we can afford it.”

He said the university needs to take time to either redesign the plan to fit within the budget approved or submit a new budget to be approved by the Regents because bids are more than the approved budget.

“It would be premature to move ahead with this project and submit a new budget until the Department of Residence can evaluate their overall financial circumstances, which is what is being done currently,” Madden said.

“This project is not isolated; it’s just one of a number of projects in the department that’s had to be re-evaluated due to their budget challenges.”

Lower occupancy in the residence halls resulting from lower enrollment at Iowa State has left the Department of Residence with a $3.4 million deficit. The deficit forced the department to make operational changes, such as the closing of Knapp Hall and Linden Dining services.

GSB USAC Senator Julie Pulczinsk said it was never a stipulation that the university create the center only if funds were available.

Pulczinski said USAC had never been told the university was going to look at re-planning the project.

When the agreement was initially made to transfer 100 University Village, is was based on the understanding University Family Housing was going to receive a new community center, she said.

“In giving up the 100 University Village, it was under the stipulation that it would be temporary,” she said.

“If University Family Housing would have thought for a minute that the university would possibly recant that commitment, the transfer would not have taken place in the ‘good faith’ effort it was.”