ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602070006
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
Radford University is looking for nearly $20 million from the General Assembly this session to put up new buildings or restore old ones.
The requests are part of a statewide strategy among colleges "to let the General Assembly know the total capital requirements of all the universities," said Charles King, Radford's vice president for business affairs.
The $19.6 million request includes:
$7.5 million to build a new Health Services Academic Facility on Adams Street to house the Waldron College of Nursing and Health Services. Also, the university's Department of Information Technology Resources would expand into the building.
$9 million to upgrade Peters Hall, a 43-year-old recreation and physical education building. "It's just in desperate need of renovation," King said. A total renewal inside and a 10,000-square-foot addition are proposed.
$1.4 million for improvements to Walker Hall, a combination classroom-administration building erected in 1935 as a dining hall. The building has undergone 70 percent renovation in recent years, and the university wants to finish work on the heating and electrical systems and handicapped access.
$1.6 million for the maintenance reserve fund to help the university meet $2.29 million in needs expected between 1996 and 1998.
The Walker Hall project is high on Gov. George Allen's priority list of capital projects to be funded, one at a time, by sales of state land originally estimated at $72 million. However, working papers have shown only about $36 million is suitable for sale, and lawmakers reportedly are skeptical that this amount can be raised over the next two years - the length of the budget currently being developed.
Projects in line ahead of Walker Hall include $15 million for information technology infrastructure for the Virginia Community College System and $12.2 million for a building renovation at William and Mary.
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