The State Board of Higher Education approved the University’s request of more than $57 million in bonds last month to fund five campus maintenance and expansion projects, including $27.4 million for the acquisition of the Williams Bakery site near Franklin Boulevard.
The Living Learning Center, a new residence hall and classroom project that will be built between Hayward Field and Carson Hall, received $14.4 million. The University Health and Counseling
Center, whose administration is in the process of planning a remodel, was approved for $9 million. The Integrative Science Complex, another project in the planning stages, received $4.7 million, and the EMU heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system got $1.3 million.
The bond money approved for the University projects is part of $153.2 million in bonds that will be sold to help fund campus projects at five Oregon public universities, according to the Board.
The Living Learning Center is on schedule for completion by fall of 2006, Director of University Housing Michael Eyster said. The project will cost approximately $27 million.
“There were construction bids let in November and we had several companies apply,” Eyster said. “Selection will be based not only on price but on interviews with contractors, because we want to get a quality contractor.”
The University Health Center started working on its plan for remodeling in 2003.
“It’s going to end up being a very nice building — modern and airy,” Health Center Director Thomas Ryan said. “If everything stays on schedule, we’re planning to break ground in August or September of 2005.”
Improvements to the health center will include a 10,000 square-foot addition and remodeling existing space. The expansion is set to cost $10 million, Ryan said.
“We’re close to the finalization of a floor plan,” he added.
The Integrative Science Complex is a two-phase project that will include the renovation of the Riverfront Research Park and a new 80,000 square-foot building in the University science center, said Robert Simonton, director of the Oregon University Systems’ Capital Construction, Planning and Budgeting department. The total budget for the complex is $19 million.
The University’s science complex will feature interdisciplinary teaching for neurological, biological, informational and material sciences and will be part of the state’s Signature Research Center project, Simonton said.
The EMU heating, ventilation
and air-conditioning system will receive some bond money for
deferred maintenance.
Students and the state made the system a priority nearly six years ago, EMU Director Dusty Miller said. The decision to go forward with the maintenance came after the EMU found it didn’t have enough money to for an expansion project on the building that was originally planned.
“The east side of the EMU is going to be here for quite some time,” Miller said. “The money that is now available will go to the east side of the building for anything that has to do with heating, ventilation or air conditioning.”
Maintenance will most likely begin this summer, Miller added.
“We knew that we were experiencing less satisfaction of occupants: It wasn’t as cool as they thought it should be, it wasn’t as hot as they thought it should be, and we knew we were coming to the end of the life expectancy…you get to learn how long you can depend on (the systems), and then they start having catastrophic failure,” Miller said.

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