Contract bids for Doudna Fine Arts Center construction were more than the $53 million budget and the lost time could push back the fall of 2005 completion date.

In December, the Doudna project was on schedule after asbestos removal but hit a snag when contract bids were not received in early February. The deadline was then pushed back a month to March.

Carol Strode, interim director of facilities and planning, said the project was given back to the Capital Development Board, which had worked on the architectural and drafting plans for a year and a half starting in the fall of 1999.

When construction is under the Capital Development Board’s supervision, the university gives up ownership of the building.

“You have not seen any construction on the Fine Arts project because we do not have signed contracts as yet,” Strode said in an e-mail Friday. “We have to wait until we receive bids that are within the budget.”

The bids are now due by the end of April.

After a bid that fits the budget is contracted, Strode said construction activity will begin in the next four to six weeks.

“You will see construction fences go up and the south entrance to the (Martin Luther King Jr.) University Union close,” she said.

Of the $54 million, which is Eastern’s most expensive project, $46 million will go toward construction and $7.5 million will go for equipment. In comparison, Booth Library’s rennovations cost $18 million.

Doudna construction will extend across Seventh Street, which was the reason why the new Human Services building had to be created.

Once the new Doudna Fine Arts Center is completed, it will double the current building’s size from 69,861 square-feet to 138,696 square-feet.