Regents urge state for funding to renovate campus buildings

With many of its buildings approaching middle age, the UW System has asked the state to establish a special fund for renovating campus facilities.

Under the UW System plan, discussed at the Board of Regents meeting March 5, the state would set up a development fund for campus renovation projects that would be administered by the regents.

The development fund is the top priority in the UW System’s plan to address facilities needs over the next several years.

Sixty percent of state-owned buildings are located on UW campuses, and most of them are 20 to 40 years old and need renovation, said Marcia Bromberg, UW System’s vice president for finance.

“The need (for renovation) is trending upward,” added Regent Jonathan Barry of Mt. Horeb during a joint meeting of the board’s Business and Finance Committee and Physical Planning and Funding Committee. “We have a big slug of buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s in need of restoration.”

The UW System is also seeking bonding authority from the state for construction projects that generate revenue, such as parking ramps and dormitories. Barry said issuing bonds would speed up the planning and construction process.

Every state university system in the country has bonding authority except for Wisconsin’s, Barry said. A similar request was rejected by the state last spring. Granting the bonding authority would require legislative approval.

Other priorities for the UW System include working with the state on special financing programs such as the WISTAR and Healthstar initiatives, identifying new building needs and raising gift money for projects where appropriate.

UW System officials met in late February with Mark Bugher, secretary of the Department of Administration; Rick Chandler, state budget director; and Robert Brandherm, administrator of the Division of Facilities Development, to discuss their plan.

Brandherm gave guarded support for the UW System’s plan at the joint committee meeting. He said the need for facilities renovation “is not just a university issue, it’s a state issue,” as most of the state’s 6,900 buildings have not been renovated.

“We welcome the initiative,” Brandherm said. “We don’t agree with everything, especially the bonding, but we can work together.”