For the second time in a year, bids for construction of the Green Music Center have come in substantially over budget, forcing Sonoma State University to indefinitely delay construction of its state-of-the-art concert hall.

SSU's latest construction bids came in $9 million over its estimated budget of $25.6 million, which officials blamed on the booming construction industry.

"The determining factor was a worldwide construction boom that has caused prices of lumber, steel and other materials to skyrocket," SSU President Ruben Armiñana said. "In this building climate, construction firms can charge top dollar."

The bids of $34.7 million and $35.9 million were about 36 percent above the university's cost estimate, a discrepancy that SSU officials said is common in the current economic climate.

"We have seen other projects in the CSU and elsewhere all coming in 35 percent over budget," SSU Director of Development Stuart Jones said. "But we are very determined and resolute to find a solution to our $9 million problem."

The new bidding disappointment is the second time SSU's estimates of construction costs have proved too optimistic. SSU initially put construction of the project out to bid last spring, but that bid also came in high, about $32 million.

In response, SSU modified part of the project's energy and infrastructure that cut estimated construction costs by about $4 million. When the project was rebid, cost estimates also were reduced by the approximate amount of the project modifications.

Jones said the university's new cost estimate was not overly optimistic.

"It was impossible to predict what was going to be happening," he said. "We have probably put this out to the marketplace during the perfect storm - you've got steel prices and the cost of labor continuing to go up."

SSU officials said they will move ahead with the project and are committed to maintaining the acoustical integrity of the hall, which has been touted as a world-class venue. Jones said, however, some further changes to the project design might be necessary.

"I think it will be a combination of finding some additional resources as well as taking a hard look at the design of our building," he said. "Clearly we don't have the resources now to build what we wanted to build."

SSU and its partner in the project, the Santa Rosa Symphony, are meeting with major donors in the next few weeks to brainstorm how to proceed with the project.

"Within three weeks, we'll have a plan and a timeline," said Susan Kashack, SSU director of communications. "Acoustics are essential - but maybe some donors can consider things in a different way."

The Green Music Center, which would be the home of the symphony, is modeled after Tanglewood's Ozawa Hall in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. The project is designed to seat 1,400 inside with additional lawn seating outside, and supporters hope it will serve as a cultural magnet for Sonoma County and complement its wine and recreational tourism.

The center is named after Telecom Valley entrepreneur Donald Green and his wife, Maureen, singers in SSU's Bach Choir who contributed the initial $10 million to launch the project in 1997.

To date, $39 million has been raised for the project, all from the community - individuals, corporations and other supporters. However, SSU has spent $13.4 million on preconstruction costs, mostly on architectural fees and permits. That leaves $25.6 million for construction costs, Kashack said.

Fund raising for the center slowed considerably in 2001, when the nation's economy slumped into a prolonged recession that also hit the county's telecom industry.

But the project received a major boost last fall when Evert and Norma Person pledged $3 million to the center and brought fund raising to within $1 million of its goal.

In April, however, the two proposals submitted in the new round of bidding came in over budget. The low bid was $34.7 million from Amoroso Construction Co. of Novato. A second bid, for $35.9 million, came from McCarthy Building Co. of Sacramento and San Francisco.

Jones said that repeated setbacks are not uncommon for a project of this scope and he believes support for the project has not wavered.