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June 17, 1999 - MnSCU Board Approves Capital Budget Request

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees today approved a legislative request for $230 million for 23 critical building projects that would provide campuses with improvements such as new classrooms, science labs and library renovations. The request will be presented to the 2000 Legislature next February. Major projects include a new $18 million science building for Normandale Community College, an $18.3 million information technology center for Minneapolis Community & Technical College, a $16.7 million library for Metropolitan State University and a $2 million campus realignment for Anoka-Hennepin Technical College.

In addition, the top projects include $11 million for a building renovation at North Hennepin Community College, $7.9 million for a remodeling project at St. Cloud Technical College, $500,000 for a new classroom building at Alexandria Technical College and $9.7 million to remodel the old high school in Bemidji for Northwest Technical College and Bemidji State University.

"As the governing board of MnSCU, we have an obligation to protect the taxpayer's investment in our institutions by being responsible stewards of this property," said Michael Vekich, chair of the Board of Trustees. "A major part of our request - $100 million * is to repair and maintain our present buildings, including major projects such as roof repairs and life safety improvements on virtually all 53 campuses in the system. We're determined to work closely with the governor and the Legislature to get these needs addressed."

The capital budget request is a product of a consultative process that involved all 36 MnSCU institutions. More than 137 projects were requested by the colleges and universities with projected costs of $757 million. Public hearings were held around the state and the projects were ranked by priorities established by the Board of Trustees.

"We are hopeful that the Legislature will provide the bonding authority to tackle these major projects," said Chancellor Morris J. Anderson. "Lawmakers have been generous with building dollars in the past, and I think we have been good stewards of that money." MnSCU facilities comprise about one-third of the state's total owned square footage. MnSCU manages physical space equivalent to five megamalls * 686 buildings with 22 million square feet.

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system is made up of 36 state universities, community and technical colleges and a campus in Japan. The system serves approximately 230,000 students a year with a fall 1998 enrollment of about 140,000.

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