Trustees Prioritize Capital Budget Requests

OHIO STATE FOCUSES ON RENOVATIONS FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

     COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees
Friday (7/9) established nearly $100 million in capital budget
priorities, with an emphasis on renovation and rehabilitation of
old campus buildings.

     In addition, the trustees recommended $25.6 million in
projects at the Newark, Marion, Mansfield and Lima campuses,  the
Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster and Ohio Agricultural
Research and Development Center facilities across the state.

     The concentration on repair and renovation will help address
a huge backlog of deferred maintenance at the university.  The
Ohio Board of Regents has announced that renovation projects will
tend to be viewed more favorably than new construction.

     The Board of Regents will consider the recommendations of
Ohio State and other universities and prepare an overall priority
list for higher education.  The Regents will forward their
recommendations to the governor later this year for inclusion in
the 1995-96 capital appropriations bill.  In the 1993-94
biennium, Ohio State received $62.1 million.

     Ohio State campus planning officials say that the university
is changing its focus after decades of new construction to meet
increasing enrollments to one of rehabilitating and renovating
existing space now that enrollments have peaked.

     Columbus campus projects requested by Ohio State include $20
million in basic and supplemental renovations, $30 million for
phase 1 construction of new College of Business facilities, and
$17.5 million for a Life Sciences Research Laboratory Building.
The remaining $30 million would be used to rehabilitate Hale
Hall, McPherson Laboratory, the Health Sciences Library, Howlett
Hall Greenhouses and Sisson Hall.

     Regional campus priorities include $1.2 million for basic
and supplemental renovations, $900,000 for the Conard Learning
Center at the Mansfield campus, $1.5 million for a maintenance,
receiving and storage building at the Marion campus, $900,000 for
other renovations at Marion, and $500,000 to begin planning a
life and physical sciences building at Lima.

     Priorities for the Agricultural Technical Institute are
$589,300 in basic and supplemental renovations, $400,000 for a
horticulture operations center, and $2,640,000 for an equine and
farm management center.

     OARDC priorities total $16.9 million, with $1,875,700 for
supplemental renovations and $3 million for equipment
replacement.  Other projects are phase 2 construction of the
horticulture greenhouse, $4.1 million; phase 3 renovation of
Thorne and Gourley halls, $2,409,000; a pesticide storage and
disposal building, $1,040,000; and grain storage and an addition
to the feed processing building, $1,175,000.

     OARDC also seeks office, laboratory, shop and storage
buildings at the Union County Farm, $1,065,000; and buildings and
improvements at the Mahoning County Experimental and Educational
Farm, $4,270,750.

     Ohio State has dropped plans for a classroom building for
undergraduate students on the site of the Neil-17th building.
Rather, the classroom space will be gained by building classrooms
as part of a new College of Business building, and renovating
Hagerty Hall.  When vacated by the business college, Hagerty can
meet the needs for the College of Humanities and provide
additional classroom space.

     The Life Sciences building is being sought to address needs
of high priority programs housed in facilities that do not meet
federal health, safety and accessibility codes.  According to the
Office of Campus Planning, the buildings can't be renovated while
occupied.  Once new buildings are constructed, however, the old
buildings can be vacated and rehabilitated for other high
priority program needs.

     "Recent building condition audits have identified nearly
$125 million in deferred maintenance for our buildings and
infrastructure," said David C. Marsh, assistant vice president
for facilities plannig.  "An increase in funding for deferred
maintenance must continue to be a high priority."

                                #
                                
Contact:  David C. Marsh, assistant vice president for facilities
planning, (614) 292-6081.

Written by Tom Spring.


[Submitted by: GERSTNER  (gerstner@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Tue, 13 Jul 93 10:51:25 EST]
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