INDIANAPOLIS — More than $240 million was requested Tuesday for nine building projects at state universities including the $90 million construction of a new dorm for STEM students at Ball State University.
The projects were presented to the State Budget Committee which consists of four state legislators and State Budget Director Jason Dudlich. The committee makes recommendations based on revenue forecasts to Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Ball State University is seeking authorization for $90 million in bonds to build a new five-story residence hall housing 500 freshmen in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs.
Originally the project, to be built on the north side of the Muncie campus, was to be funded by bonds and reserve accounts. If approved by the committee, BSU would bond the full amount of the project based on market conditions.
In 2012, the Indiana Department of Education identified the need for more rigorous STEM education.
Last year, Indiana awarded $9.6 million to nonprofit groups to help recruit teachers with STEM experience to fill in shortages in those subject areas.
On Tuesday, Purdue University asked for $64 million for an 111,300-square-foot STEM Teaching Lab Facility. The facility would combine chemistry and biology disciplines. Laboratories would make up about 84 percent of the construction, said Tony Hahn, Purdue Director of State Relations and Policy Analysis.
The project is to be be paid through gifts of $20 million and operating fund reserves of $44 million.
Another project, a three-story addition to the Jischke Hall of Biomedical Engineering, would be funded by gifts of $14 million, Hahn said.
Other project requests included:
• A total of $31.8 million for Indiana State University to renovate its Fine Arts and Commerce building, which was constructed in 1940 as a Public Works Administration project, and to renovate dining facilities at Sycamore Towers.
• A $41 million expansion of the physical activities center including classrooms at the University of Southern Indiana. The center was built to serve 2,000 students and now needs to be renovated for 9,500 students, said Cindy Brinker, USI's senior vice president for government relations.
• The construction of a $44 million building on the IUPUI campus to house programs in science, engineering, informatics and computing.
• The $3 million construction of a new Prison Enterprise Network (PEN) Industries building in Plainfield. PEN, a division of the Indiana Department of Correction providing goods and services using prisoner labor, is currently housed in an Indianapolis re-entry facility that is being demolished.
• The replacement of equipment at 17 playgrounds in state parks for $529,290.