The North Dakota Board of Higher Education’s Budget and Finance Committee on Wednesday approved UND’s request to raze about a half-dozen buildings.
UND says the plan would modernize facilities, remove existing liability, and eliminate capital renewal needs of more than $139-million-dollars.
The buildings include Hyslop Sports Center, along with Johnstone, Fulton and Smith residence halls, plus a Hazardous Materials storage building tied to new construction at the EERC.
Mike Pieper, UND’s associate VP for facilities, says the Haz-Mat storage building does not meet current codes.
“It was determined that the most cost-effective solution for the University would be to demolish this existing storage building to allow the (new) EERC building to be erected at a much more efficient cost.”
Pieper said a new Haz-Mat storage area would be located next to UND’s safety office.
Hyslop Sports Center will make way for a new “STEM” building (science, technology, engineering, math).
In other action, the Committee authorized UND’s request to increase spending on the Pollard Athletic Center addition.
After initially requesting $20-million-dollars in construction authority, UND asked for a bump to $23-million-dollars after getting final bids on Phase Two of the project. That phase includes a weight room, locker room, a training area and offices. The Committee also approved a request to name the addition, the “Nodak Insurance Company Sports Performance Center.”
In addition, the panel okayed UND’s request to change the name of the American Indian Center to the “Indigenous Student Center.”
The requests now go to the full Higher Ed Board on Dec. 7th.
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(Photo: Hyslop Sports Center, UND Athletics)