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Pray-Harrold tops EMU's Capital Outlay budget request

If one were to ask which building on campus has been waiting the longest for capital outlay dollars from the state, it wouldn't be much of a pop quiz.

For the ninth consecutive year, the Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents approved a fiscal year 2009 capital outlay budget request for the modernization of Pray-Harrold, the University's largest classroom building.

TOP OF THE LIST: For the ninth consecutive year,
Pray-Harrold tops Eastern Michigan University's
Capital Outlay budget list. The cost to renovate the
largest classroom building on campus is $57 million.

The Regents approved the budget request at their Nov. 27 meeting.

The estimated cost to renovate Pray-Harrold is $57 million. The University's cost share is $14.25 million. The University's share will be funded from money already collected and to be collected by the 4-percent tuition fee increase that began in fall 2005 from the action taken by the Board to identify funding for outstanding facility needs.

However, some Regents stressed the need for a "Plan B" if EMU does not receive the full amount it needs from the state to complete the Pray-Harrold renovation. The renovation project has been at the top of EMU's capital outlay request since 1999, but EMU has not had a capital project funded by the state since 1996. The Pray-Harrold renovation made Jennifer Granholm's capital outlay project list last year, but remained in limbo when the state's budget woes mounted.

"To do Pray-Harrold the way we want to do it would cost around $57 million," said Regent Phil Incarnati. "If we don't get the capital outlay (dollars), then it's a question of 'what can we do for $20 million on the Pray-Harrold building?' We need a separate plan in case we don't get the capital outlay."