Twenty-six major capital projects totaling $366 million are underway on the Columbia, Aiken, Beaufort, and Upstate campuses, and the University's Buildings and Grounds Committee is prioritizing several more construction and renovation projects through 2012.

Committee members met Feb. 28 to engage in a daylong review and discussion of the University's myriad needs for academic space and student housing. Current financial market conditions, which are tilting toward ever-lower interest rates, could provide a one-time opportunity for the University to secure funding for several projects, said Rick Kelly, Carolina's vice president for business and finance and chief financial officer.

"We can't count on a state bond bill for higher education anytime soon, but we can take advantage of market conditions and--with guidance from our financial advisors--move forward with several projects," Kelly said. "Other states are providing large bond bills for their institutions of higher education, but we're going to have to bootstrap ourselves to make progress."

The committee plans to consider at its regular April meeting a five-year plan that would lead to:

• $10 million per year in deferred maintenance (building repairs such as roof replacement and utility upgrades)
• renovations to Petigru that would involve relocating the bursar's and registrar's office
• renovations to the Health Sciences Building (which houses the Arnold School of Public Health offices on Sumter Street)
• renovations to LeConte
• additional streetscaping on Pendleton, College, and Greene streets.

Those projects would be funded, in part, with an unallocated pool of $25 million created by past tuition increases and with state funds already earmarked for a portion of the Petigru renovation.

Other athletics department-funded projects that would move forward during the next several years include renovations at the Roost residence halls, construction of tennis courts and a lacrosse stadium, and conversion of the state Farmers' Market to athletics parking when that parcel of land becomes available.

Gene Luna, associate vice president for Student Affairs and interim director of University Housing, discussed a plan to completely renovate Patterson Hall in 2010-11. The renovation would change the residence hall to suite-style housing with two students sharing a bathroom instead of traditional hall bathrooms. The $32 million project would reduce the number of beds in the building from 637 to 442 and would not take place until the year after the honors residence hall now under construction is completed.

The Patterson Hall renovation would be part of a larger plan to sequentially renovate student housing on the Horseshoe, Preston College, McClintock, Wade Hampton, Cliff Apartments, and Carolina Garden Apartments. Those renovations would include providing fire protection sprinklers and would complete the long-term plan of sprinkling all student residence halls.

Other bricks-and-mortar projects discussed at the Buildings and Grounds committee retreat included possible construction of a new building for the Moore School of Business, demolition of the Byrnes Building to make way for a 200,000-square-foot facility, construction of a new law school building, construction of a new alumni center, and conversion of the Carolina Coliseum to academic space.

3/08