This week, crews started installing two recent senior class gifts -- the Class of 2001's "shepherd's crook" lightposts and the Class of 2002's historic street clocks -- along Pollock Road.

But the Class of 2000's legacy to Penn State remains on hold, as the Living Machine project selected that year continues to face higher-than-expected costs and unanticipated obstacles.

"It's taking more time than ever anticipated," said Tania Slawecki, director of the Center for Sustainability. "It's just been a very slow and painful process."

At the earliest, construction of a greenhouse for the "machine" will begin this summer at the center's site off Porter Road, pending approval of a state grant, Slawecki said.

Originally developed by Vermont nonprofit organization Ocean Arks International, the Living Machine technology features a system of cascading tanks that purify wastewater through natural processes.

After the trademark for the concept name went to another company, Penn State renamed its project an Advanced Ecologically Engineered System (AEES), Slawecki noted.

Back in fall 1999, soon-to-be graduates voted to rebuild a historic greenhouse at Old Botany Building, with a Living Machine to be constructed inside.

When cost estimates were too high, the university decided to move the project to the edge of campus. The announcement drew complaints from some students who said the change would not reflect the Class of 2000's original intentions.

The AEES received a leg-up from the state, when the university won a $150,000 grant from the Department of Environmental Protection.

But Penn State had to get an extension of the original grant period until June 2004 and apply for more funds earlier this year after administrative costs cut into the first award, Slawecki said.

Meanwhile, bids for construction of the 20-by-28-foot greenhouse last November all came in more than $100,000 over Penn State's budget of $352,000.

That figure is based on about $150,000 from the senior classes of 1950 and 2000 as well as contributions from the university.

"I don't understand why this project is so expensive," Slawecki said.

"I don't know where the money's going," she said.

The university has scratched initial plans for a 20-by-18-foot headhouse, which would have provided an office and bathroom on site as well as a mezzanine for the public to view the AEES, she noted. Slawecki expressed her hope of finding another more "creative" way to construct the headhouse at a later date.

Erin English, who organized the push for bringing a Living Machine to Penn State while a student here, said she has rarely seen such a project hit so many roadblocks.

"I think it's very unfortunate," said English, who now works as an engineer for Ocean Arks in Vermont.

English also suggested that the added cost of bringing utilities to the Porter Road site has hindered the project.

"They've put it in the middle of nowhere," she said.

Amber Krieg, assistant director of the Office of Annual Giving, said inquiries about the Class of 2000's gift have dwindled as the process dragged on.

"A lot of people ... have kind of forgotten about that," Krieg said.

The Center for Sustainability posts updates on the AEES project at its Web site www.psu.edu/dept/cs/updates.htm.