The state's Higher Education Subcommittee will present a request for increased funding for UW System facilities to the state's Building Commission Wednesday.
According to David Helbach, secretary of the commission, the Wisconsin Legislature already appropriated $1.4 billion for statewide maintenance and construction in the 2009-'11 biennial budget.
""Seventy percent of that [funding] goes to the university system,"" Helbach said. ""It was [the state's] priority to make sure we take care of infrastructure and the jobs that go along with it.""
Increased gift funding for the Sterling Hall restoration project is included in the new request. A 2008 UW-Madison report estimated the cost of restoration at $17.5 million. The subcommittee will recommend increasing the scope and budget for Sterling Hall by about $1.2 million.
Sterling Hall may be the future home of the Plasma Dynamo Facility for studying plasma-generated magnetic fields, and the proposal includes a request for about $18.9 million in borrowed funds to support that project.
The subcommittee will also propose to increase funding by $42,000 in building trust funds for the demolition of the A.W. Peterson Office Building and the Food Research Institute. The project will likely cost over $1.2 million, a nearly $200,000 increase from the original estimate.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater will also present proposals to the commission. UW-Oshkosh will ask to borrow over $31 million for a residence hall project, and UW-Whitewater will seek almost $2 million in additional funding to restore two buildings.
Helbach said he expects these proposals to pass.
