The Metropolitan Online

College presidents make plea for
construction money

By Deborah Wiig
The Metropolitan

Auraria and college leaders asked the Colorado Legislature for $19 million Nov. 7 for new buildings and renovations for Auraria.

Metro President Sheila Kaplan, along with Dean Wolf, Aurariaâs vice president of Operations, and the presidents from the University of Colorado at Denver and the Community College of Denver, met with the Capital Development Committee to request funds for five projects.

Wolf said the campus space is limited and 4,000 additional students will be enrolled by fall 2000. Auraria is one of the most efficient campuses in the country, he said. Classrooms are used 42 hours a week, compared to a national average of 22 hours a week.

But Rep. Gilbert Romero, D-Pueblo, said the schools probably wonât get everything theyâre asking for.

ãCapital development funding requests from higher education institutions throughout the state are massive, totaling $300 million,ä Romero said. ãObviously, we canât fund all of these requests.

ãHigher education has received more in the last four years than Iâve seen in my 14 years in the legislature. We have money, but Auraria administrators will have to decide which projects are most important for their students.ä

Kaplan predicted lawmakers would approve funding for renovating the South Classroom and for a campuswide rewiring project. She was not as confident about approval for a $40 million computer lab.

ãItâs a whole new concept,ä she said. ãThey know what libraries, labs and classrooms are, but this is something completely different. There will be questions.ä

The Committee members will make recommendations on the requests during the upcoming legislative session.

Aurariaâs shopping list:

$6,915, 471 to begin construction of the Performing Arts Center. The center will house music and theater programs for Metro, UCD, and CCD. Total cost for the center is $17 million.

$697,864 for improving ventilation and piped-in natural gas, upgrading electrical and plumbing systems, and installing of cabinets and emergency shower stations in the South Classroom.

$2,158,721 to buy equipment for a classroom to be built in parking Lot G, behind the Plaza Building. The buildingâs construction is being delayed pending the design of the arts center.
The new building will contain 36 classrooms, science and computer labs, and 100 faculty offices. The facility will serve all three schools, including Metroâs Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science and History departments. The total cost of the building is $16 million. The building should be finished in January 2000.

$4,626,108 to design the Integrated Learning Center. This high-tech computer lab will contain multi-media resources, a media center, broadcast studios, film and video libraries. The estimated cost for the facility is $38 million, and completion is scheduled for early 2002.

$4,087,000 for a Classroom Technology Improvement Plan to upgrade electrical power and wiring in all Auraria classrooms. Total cost of the project, to be completed by early 2002, is $6.5 million.