In the past year and a half, the UC Berkeley administration has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to research and prepare for a major renovation of Lower Sproul Plaza and the surrounding student union complex.

The recent push in the decades-long revitalization effort aims to raise student fees through a campus referendum conducted by the ASUC to help fund the $300 million project, which officials say will turn the plaza and surrounding buildings into the heart of campus social and extracurricular life.

Existing plans for the project include the reconstruction of Eshleman Hall-which has been deemed seismically unsafe and is slated for demolition-and the creation of a permanent multicultural center. The plan also seeks to add office space for student groups as well as performance and retail space.

Over the past several weeks, Washington D.C.-based consultant Brailsford & Dunlavey has been reporting on the feasibility of having students vote on the fee increase. The consultant concluded that the referendum should be conducted only if the campus administration funds half of the project and there is a strong indication of support among students for the referendum.

The campus has paid $823,255 to research the Lower Sproul project since March 2008, according to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Harry Le Grande.

But the future of the effort is now uncertain, as student leaders are beginning to question both the campus administration's ability to commit funds as well as the likelihood that a majority of students would support the fee increase.

"We're getting feedback from the chancellor ... that he doesn't think he can come through on 50 percent," said Graduate Assembly President Miguel Daal. "So (this has) made us take pause as this campus figures out what its financial situation is."

Daal is one of many students spearheading the effort, including members of the Lower Sproul Student Council, which meets weekly to discuss the project. Student leaders must finalize the referendum by Feb. 1 and the ASUC Senate must approve for it to be added to the ASUC spring general elections ballot, according to Joseph Guzman, a council co-chair.

The consultant recommended a fee plan that would add $30 per semester to a campus-based student fee in 2010-11, before increasing to $355 by 2019, where it would remain until 2040.

Students currently pay a campus-based fee of $214 per semester.

As per university policy, about 33 percent of the fee revenue would go

toward financial aid, Guzman said.

He added that the council will meet with student groups in coming weeks to determine the likelihood of passing the fee, which would coincide with a possible UC systemwide 32 percent increase in student fees to be considered by the UC Board of Regents next month.

Le Grande said the student union is "woefully underutilized" and that the campus will continue to financially support the revitalization effort, although its financial contribution would likely be conducted in phases.

"We're going to have to phase this project," he said. "There's no way that the campus in this current economic climate will be able to (otherwise) commit $150 million."

He added that the campus will know how much it can contribute as early as this week.

ASUC Auxiliary Director Nadesan Permaul said the current effort is more likely to succeed than previous campaigns because it is led by students.

"Next year is the fiftieth anniversary of the construction of this student union that we currently have," said Permaul, who is also co-chair of the campus Student Fee Referendum Committee. "(It) was built for a campus of 18,000 students. We are currently at almost 35,000 students. We are woefully underserved for the demands of the current time."

Guzman said even if student leaders opt not to conduct a referendum, revitalization efforts will continue.

"This needs to happen," he said. "And if it doesn't happen this year, we'll try something else next year."

Tags: LOWER SPROUL PLAZA