06-02-95 Trustees Hear Capital Budget Report RENOVATIONS, BUSINESS, FOOD SCIENCE TOP CAPITAL REQUEST LIST COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University has come up with its "Top Nine" list of requests for construction funds in the 1997- 98 state capital budget. Topping the list are funds for general building renovations and new facilities for the Max M. Fisher College of Business and the Department of Food Science and Technology. In a report Friday (6/2) to the university's Board of Trustees, Richard Sisson, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, and William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance, said they are seeking public comment on the preliminary recommendations through June. The final list will be submitted in July to the Ohio Board of Regents. The Regents will evaluate requests from state colleges and universities, and formulate a state-wide recommendation to the governor. Ohio State will request $117 million in the coming biennium, including $20 million for basic and supplemental renovations to repair aging structures, most of them on the 125-year-old Columbus campus. The university received $103.8 million for the current biennium. Sisson and Shkurti said that the backlog of deferred maintenance is the university's highest unmet need. The university also will seek $24 million to fund the second phase of construction of the Fisher College of Business, which will be built on the north campus area between Neil Avenue and Tuttle Park Place. The state money will be augmented by $13.4 million in privately raised funds. Groundbreaking for the first phase of construction occurred Friday (6/2). In addition, $9.9 million will be sought from the state to construct the Food Science and Technology Building, a connector joining the Animal Science Building and Howlett Hall. Howlett is home to the Department of Horticulture, the Food Processing Laboratory, and the Food Industries Center. The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences will contribute $6.2 million in privately raised money to help fund the project, which will also remodel laboratories in Animal Science and Howlett. The state provided $1.1 million in planning funds for the facility in the current capital appropriation. Ohio State also will seek funds for four projects with high academic priority and high physical needs. They are, in order: -- $19.5 million for a life sciences building, -- $4 million to plan and prepare a site for a physical sciences building, -- $1 million to plan the renovation of Hagerty Hall which currently houses the College of Business, and -- $16.2 million to construct a building to replace a deteriorated section of Sisson Hall in the College of Veterinary Medicine. In addition, the university is requesting money to fund two other priority projects that were rated as having high financial feasibility and physical need. They are the Knowlton School of Architecture, $9 million, and the Heart and Lung Institute, $13.4 million. Deans and vice presidents were invited in December to recommend projects for inclusion in the capital budget request. University administrators then ranked them in terms of academic priority, physical need, financial feasibility, and other considerations. Shkurti noted that there are other projects which are needed, but will not be a priority for this biennium. They include replacing Robinson Laboratory, renovating the Ohio Union, and completing the second phase of the library book depository. Comments may be sent to Sisson in the Office of Academic Affairs or Shkurti in the Office of Finance, Bricker Hall, 190 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, Ohio 43210. # Contact: Richard Sisson, (614) 292-5881, or William Shkurti, (614) 292-9232. Written by Tom Spring. [Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) Mon, 5 Jun 1995 11:03:24 -0400] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.