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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
michigandaily.com
BORDERS BYGONE
REGENTS PREVIEW
Regents to
talk Crisler
renovations
at meeting
LEFT: A sign outside the Borders flagship store on East Liberty Street thanks customers for their support throughout the years. The store closed yesterday after
being in business for 40 years. RIGHT: A security officer outside Borders yesterday. The company, which was founded by brothers Tom and Louis Borders in Ann
Arbor in 1971, is liquidating 399 stores nationwide. An auction of the company's intellectual property rights is scheduled to take place tomorrow.
CITY GOVERNMENT
New A2 city administrator
di scusses future challenges
Board to also
discuss new
Medical School
departments
By KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Daily StaffReporter
The University's Board of
Regents will kick off the new
school year with discussions of
rumpus renovations anod expan-
sions during its meeting in the
Fleming. Administration Build-
ing Thursday afternoon.
At the forefront of the agenda
is a proposal to approve the next
phase of renovations to Crisler
Arena.
In a communication to the
regents, Timothy Slottow, the
University's executive vice presi-
dent and chief financial officer,
and University Athletic Direc-
tor Dave Brandon recommended
that the regents authorize the
Crisler Arena project for outside
bids and award construction con-
tracts.
The regents approved the
schematic design of the project
at their monthly meeting in May.
Brandon and Slottow also recom-
mended that the regents approve
the submission of bids that are
within the proposed $52 million
budget for the project.
The 63,000-square-foot addi-
tion to the arena will include
new entrances and retail, ticket
and private club areas. Another
54,000-square-foot addition will
add handicap-accessible seats,
additional restrooms, concession
stands and other "fan amenities,"
the communication states.
Construction on the arena is
scheduled to he complete in win-
ter 2014.
BOARD TO VOTE ON TWO
MEDICAL SCHOOL DEPTS.
The University Medical
School is r'questing the regents'
approval to establish two new
departments: the Department
of Computational Medicine and
Bioinformatics and the Depart-
ment of Cardiac Surgery.
According to Medical School
Dean James Woolliscroft and
Ora Pescovitz, the University's
executive vice president for med-
ical affairs, the establishment of
the departments will be instru-
mental to the University's aca-
demic growth.
See REGENTS, Page5
Steve Powers
to assume post
on Thursday
By ADAM RUBENFIRE
DailyStaff Reporter
Steve Powers,the newly hired
city administrator, will make
the switch from overseeing a
county in the Upper Peninsula
to looking after operations in
Ann Arbor when he begins his
new position on Thursday.
Powers will take the place of
Roger Fraser, who left the city
in April to work in the state
Department of Treasury. Pow-
ers, who most recently served
as county administrator in Mar-
quette County in the Upper Pen-
insula, said one of his primary
tasks as Ann Arbor's city admin-
istrator will be ensuring the city
continues to operate effectively
despite city budget cuts.
In an interview yesterday,
Powers said though this will be
his first job as a city administra-
tor, he's confident that he has
gained extensive experience for
the job through his work as a
county administrator.
"The similarities between
city and county management are
greater than the differences,"
Powers said. "It's working with
people, it's working with bud-
gets, it's providing services."
Still, Powers said he wants to
learn more about the needs of
Ann Arbor residents.
"I'm going to be taking the
first 100 days to listen and
observe," he said.
Powers noted that Ann Arbor,
like many municipalities across
the state, has been forced to
make budget cuts recently. For
the 2012 fiscal year, the Ann
Arbor police and fire depart-
ments will have to cut 30 posi-
tions, though most of them
See ADMINISTRATOR, Page 5
STATEWIDE SMOKING BAN
Ann Arbor bars refrain from
banning state lawmakers
A birds-eye view of campus construction
Establishments would keep them out of certain
restaurants today.
across state see Almost a year and a half after
the implementation of Michi-
profit losses due to gan's Smoke Free Air Law, a
group of Michigan bar owners
smoking law has begun to protest the legis-
lation by refusing to allow state
By HALEY GLATTHORN legislators into their establish-
Daily StaffReporter ments. However, while these
restaurant owners have seen
When voting in favor of reduced profits because of the
the statewide smoking ban in ban, many Ann Arbor bars have
. December 2009, Michigan leg- seen an increase in revenue
islators didn't know their vote because of it.
Stephen Mace, executive
director of Protect Private
Property Rights in Michigan,
said his organization repre-
sents approximately 500 bars
and restaurants throughout
the state that lost business due
to the smoking ban, which was
officially implemented on May
1, 2010. He added that though
legislators attempted to provide
a more pleasurable, smoke-free
atmosphere for customers, they
ignored the smokers that com-
See BARS, Page5
UNIVERSITY CONSTRUCTION
Construction of pedestrian mall on 700
block of Monroe Street remains stalled
Dominick's owner
expresses concern
about project
By CHELSEA LANDRY
For the Daily
Students and faculty looking
for a more pedestrian-friendly
pathway near the Law School
may have to wait a little longer.
The University's plan to cre-
ate a pedestrian mall on Mon-
roe Street between State Street
and Oakland Avenue still awaits
approval by the city of Ann
Arbor.
Originally proposed in 2008,
the pedestrian mall would con-
nect Weill Hall and South Hall
- a new Law School building
slated to open in January - of
the University's Law School and
reduce traffic.
The project, expected to cost
about $3 million, would result
in a pedestrian mall similar to
existing ones on campus such as
Ingalls Mall.
Jim Kosteva, the University's
director of community rela-
tions, said though there aren't
anyupdates on the construction
See MONROE, Page 5
WEATHER HI 71
TOMORROW 'LO 45
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