Bede Hall Replacement Project Approved
On May 22 Governor Ventura issued his list of line-item vetoes to the capital bonding bill passed by the Minnesota Legislature. Funding was approved for the following projects in the University of Minnesota's request: Higher Education Asset Preservation and Renewal (HEAPR) ($35 million), Plant Growth Facilities ($17.7 million), Duluth Lab Science ($33 million), Nicholson Hall ($24 million), Bede Hall, Crookston ($7.7 million), and Classroom Improvements, system-wide ($2 million). The total value of the approved projects for the University, including the University's debt obligation and private contributions, is $119.4 million. (Learn more about the entire process at U of M Government Relations)
Initial study and planning for the replacement of Bede Hall at UMC have already taken place (learn more). Bede Hall, the existing student center, was constructed in 1921 as a high school dining hall, dormitory, and classroom building. Originally built to serve a small high school enrollment of 155 students, the building is inadequate to meet the various needs of the current undergraduate enrollment of nearly 1,200 full-time, on-campus students.
The existing 1921 building will be demolished as part of the project, and a new student services center will be constructed on the same site. The existing 18,412 square foot, three-story building will be replaced with a new 37,550 square-foot facility connected on one level to the existing atrium connector and on two levels to Sahlstrom Conference Center.
U of M, Twin Cities Facilities Management is currently preparing the information for this project. The information will be sent to the State Designer Selection Board in early June, and that will begin the process of selecting the firm that will design the building. UMC officials will appoint a campus planning committee to work with the firm this summer.
Plans call for a full schematic design to begin in September 2002. The project will be bid in March of 2003, and construction will likely take place from May 2003 to July 2004. The completed building will be ready for occupancy in August 2004.
Posted 05/31/2002
Contact: Andrew Svec,
218-281-8435