April 23, 2008

State Budget Provides Capital Infusion

The 2008-09 enacted State budget provided nearly $123 million in new capital support for the uptown and downtown academic campuses. The amount included the following:

Business School Building
Fifty-four million dollars to construct a new building to house the School of Business and selected other campus-wide classroom needs. Equally important, the new building will provide much needed swing space so that the Podium can be renovated in a more meaningful way. A program study and concept for the new building is already completed. Design on the building will commence in the coming year; and construction could potentially start in 2010-11.

Campus Center Expansion
Thirty million dollars was appropriated to expand and improve the Campus Center with as much as 75,000 new square feet of space. As the first step, a program study is being contracted to determine where the expansion will occur (adjacent to the building or perhaps adding another story on the structure) and which functions and spaces should be moved and/or upgraded. The intent is to use this expansion as the first step in a multi-year plan to renovate and improve the entire Campus Center building.

Campus Revitalization, Phase II
Five million dollars was provided as Phase II for projects designed to both address critical maintenance needs as well as improve aesthetics and quality of life. The funds will be likely be earmarked for additional landscaping, pedestrian, and site improvements.

Critical Maintenance
$33.8 million was appropriated as the first installment of a five-year SUNY initiative to address the significant backlog of deferred maintenance and much needed renewal on the campus. These dollars will be invested in a long-planned list of critical items such as the repair and replacement of roofs, elevators, mechanical systems, and water tower and site utilities repairs. The most notable of the work planned with this first $33.8 million appropriation is the design of new campus data center to replace the outdated facility in the basement level of the Podium.

 

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