Delegates get capital tour on building needs

By Matt Kelly

Members of the House of Delegates Appropriations Committee made a quick
tour of several University facilities Sept. 18 in anticipation of funding requests in the coming legislative session.

Led by University President John T. Casteen III and Colette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget, the tours, through Cocke Hall and New Cabell Hall for the College of Arts & Sciences and the Thornton Hall clean room and nanotechnology lab for the School of Engineering and Applied Science, highlighted the deficiencies of the buildings. The tour was capped with a lunch at Carr’s Hill.

The legislative delegation toured several colleges in the state over several days to review their capital requirements.

Sheehy greeted the group in the Rotunda and outlined briefly the University’s plans for renovation and new construction.

In the years 2002 through 2004, the University is looking at $469 million in capital projects, of which 72 percent would be raised through donations, grants, contracts and other private sources, Sheehy said. She told the legislators that the University is still looking for some state support in its efforts.

The University has submitted its capital requirements to the governor, who will sift through them for inclusion in the budget he will release for the legislators in December. She said there will also be an opportunity in January for U.Va. to appeal to the legislature if part of the request has been omitted.

Sheehy told the legislators that many of the changes required in existing buildings are inside the walls — wiring, plumbing, air circulation — as well as renovating the visible space. She pointed to the changes in education that computers have generated in the past 20 years and said that buildings such as New Cabell Hall, built in the 1950s, offer challenges to the modern academic environment.

She also stressed the importance of investing money in new research facilities so the University will be poised to take advantage of federal research funds. Sheehy stressed that investing money in the University’s research operations would have returns for the state through business and jobs, and bring existing businesses into the state, as well as additional research money.

The Board of Visitors Buildings and Grounds Committee may discuss some of the capital outlay projects at its Oct. 10 meeting.