After students approved a University Union expansion 31/2 years ago, the Cal State Hayward project finally is making headway.

After being held up for years by a seismic study and other preliminary procedures, the designs for the spot that's considered the campus's community center will be 90 percent complete by September.

Construction is expected to begin in June 2004, with the doors set to open 18 months later.

The annex is estimated to cost $8 million, $7 million of which will go to construction. The remaining money will be spent on furniture and equipment.

The project is behind sched-ule partly because two fault lines were uncovered on the site, although they later were deemed inactive and safe to build on.

Originally built in 1957 as a cafeteria and already renovated twice, the facility has reached capacity, leaving inadequate space for student club offices and other activities.

To provide the desired additional services, students agreed to raise fees in February 2000. That fall the student union fees rose $11 to $33 a quarter until they were capped at $55 each quarter. Students pay $165 in student union fees each academic year, among the lowest charges in the 23-campus system.

The new union will include a cybercafe and pub, a student lounge with storage lockers, a student cultural and women's resource center, two eateries and other features.

"It will increase the opportunities for students to remain oncampus," said Joyce Montgomery, executive director of the University Union.

Cal State Hayward is primarily a commuter school with a large number of older students who attend classes at night and work full-time. In recent years there has been a push to recruit younger students who have just graduated from high school. To lure that crowd, the university also is trying to create a livelier campus life with new student housing.

The added space, on the south side of the current building, will increase the union's size from 55,000 to80,000 square feet, covering a third of the lawn leading up to Meiklejohn Hall.

In its present state the University Union is called the campus "living room." It holds fast-food restaurants, such as Subway and Taco Bell, an arcade and pool table, meeting rooms, lounges and a copy center, among other services.

The union, which is next to the bookstore in the heart of campus, needs a makeover.

"It's a commuter school, and the union is a commuter union," said Mizgon Zahir, an English major.

She said the current space is too cramped and the food choices too few.

The union is the best gathering place for students, but it's not always conducive to conversation as other campus unions are, Zahir said.

She wants to see a larger game room because the pool tables always seem to be booked. Zahir also is looking forward to the new cybercafe.

"It's going to be a relaxed setting where you can drink coffee and check your e-mail," she said.