U of M to seek $170M from state for building plans

The University of Minnesota board of regents on Friday gave the go ahead for the school's 2012 bonding request. It will ask state lawmakers for almost $170 million in state bonding money.

The money is intended for maintenance, renovation and some new construction on the U's campuses around the state. The university would spend about $90 million to repair and upgrade existing buildings. The second-largest budget line, at $81 million, is the conversion of the Old Main Steam Plant on the Twin Cities campus into a multiple-use building with gas-fired turbines to generate electricity.

In recent years, the budget requests have topped $200 million. U officials say this new request is a prudent one that keeps the state budget situation in mind.

The U plans to pitch in nearly $40 million of its own money to fund the projects, which range from renovating and repurposing historic buildings, adding new laboratories, and constructing an American Indian resource center on the U's Duluth campus.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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