BUILDING PLANS WILL BE TAKEN UP BY REGENTS

Southeast Missouri State University's administration hopes to push ahead with $40 million in campus construction projects.

The administration is scheduled to review the plans with the Board of Regents when it meets at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the University Center Ballroom.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast's executive vice president, said the campus needs a facelift if it wants to compete with colleges that are sprucing up their campuses. "We also know these projects will help attract and retain students," he said.

Some of the projects have been in the planning stages for two years. "It's not one of those haphazard type things where we are going too fast," he said.

Dobbins said the university is proceeding with improvements that were outlined in the 1996 campus master plan. They include the Greek Housing-Towers renovation, expansion of the Student Recreation Center, construction of athletic fields, a polytechnic building, a student center, a restricted path for the university's shuttle buses and a parking deck.

Dobbins said all of the projects except the polytechnic institute would be funded at least in part with student fees.

Any fee hikes would be phased in over a number of years, Dobbins said. The regents are expected to consider fee hikes April 30.

Southeast is moving ahead with expansion of the Student Recreation Center and construction of athletic fields at Sprigg and Bertling. But the other projects depend on securing funding, including state money for the polytechnic building.

Don Dickerson, president of the Board of Regents, said Monday that the board ultimately must decide if the university can afford to do all the building projects in the next few years. The timetable calls for the university to complete the projects by the end of 2000.

Dickerson said the regents must decide what projects are really needed for the school to attract and retain students. The regents also must look at how fee hikes would impact students, he said.

"It would be wonderful if we could do all the projects, and maybe they are doable," he said.

Dickerson said it is important to let the public know about the proposed projects before any final decisions are made.

Dobbins said the university already has issued $7 million in bonds and could look at issuing $20 million in additional bonds to finance the buildings.

The timing is right, said Dickerson. "The bond market right now is probably as good as we are going to likely see it for some time."

Dobbins said renovation of Greek Housing and the Towers commons area could cost $11.6 million. The project includes extensive renovations to five of the residence halls that house fraternities and sororities. The work would include installation of air conditioning and exterior face lifts to make the residence halls look less like institutional housing, Dobbins said.

The commons area would be expanded to provide three large meeting rooms, a 45-station computer lab, more and modernized dining space, office space for student organizations, new restrooms and handicapped access to Towers East and South residence halls.

Greek Housing cafeteria would be included in the new polytechnic building. One of the Greek Housing dorms would be razed to make room for the building, which would house industrial technology labs and classes.

Construction of the building could cost some $7.15 million, Dobbins said.

Expansion of the Student Recreation Center and construction of athletic fields are expected to cost $8.7 million. The Recreation Center would take $5.5 million of that total.

Dobbins said the original design for the expansion of the Recreation Center would have resulted in a project that was $1 million over budget.

Plans for construction of an intercollegiate soccer field and tennis courts at Sprigg and Bertling would have added $1.3 million to the cost of field improvements.

The Recreation Center addition has been redesigned to reduce costs. Under the revised plans, the outdoor tennis courts and varsity soccer field would be built at a different site to hold down costs, Dobbins said.

The athletic fields project includes plans for construction of a building near the university track. It would house locker rooms and space for the athletic trainers, Dobbins said.

Construction of a new student center or University Commons could cost about $12 million. Parker Hall would be incorporated into the new structure.

Dobbins said the gymnastics team likely would lose its practice area in Parker Hall. The university is considering building a $500,000 practice facility for the team, Dobbins said. The facility could be built near Houck Field House.

The university also is looking at building a three-deck parking garage along New Madrid where there is now surface parking. Most of the multilevel parking would be built into a hillside. The parking deck could handle 1,400 cars.

A transit way could be constructed that would provide a restricted path for shuttle buses through the interior of the campus, Dobbins said. As part of that project, the water tower behind Academic Hall would be removed.

The parking deck and transit way would cost an estimated $7.9 million. The parking deck would account for most of that cost, Dobbins said.

Construction of the parking deck and transit way would rely heavily on federal funding. The university projects the federal share at $6.3 million. Without that funding, the project won't be done, Dobbins said.