Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano highlighted proposed renewals of the Hellems Arts and Sciences and Guggenheim Geography buildings on Tuesday, Dec. 15, as he advocated for the modernization of CU Boulder’s historic buildings before the state legislature’s Capital Development Committee.Ěý
DiStefano stressed the impactful role state funding could play in ensuring that Hellems and Guggenheim—each serving thousands of students each year across dozens of disciplines—continue to fuel student success and serve the university’s mission of education and research for future generations of students.Ěý
The university is proposing an $87.7 million renovation of Hellems, phased across four state budget request cycles. The project would include $35.1 million in facilities improvements from the state and $52.6 million in academic space improvements from the university. The Guggenheim project is a two-phase request, proposed at $29.2 million overall, with $11.7 million in state funds and $17.5 million committed by the university.
The state has limited funds available to support maintenance and construction each year. While campus has funded new construction in recent years with a combination of campus cash and philanthropy, CU Boulder has focused its requests for state funding on major renovations as a way to maximize the value of such investments by the state.Ěý
Hellems sits atop the CU System’s prioritization list for state funding for the second year in a row, while Guggenheim is now listed third. Neither project received state funding last year, and both requests are being renewed this year.
DiStefano’s appearance before the Capital Development Committee (CDC) comes at a key point in the state’s Fiscal Year 2021-22 budgeting process. The CDC is a statutory committee composed of a mix of state senators and representatives that plays an important role in the budgeting process. This year, Boulder’s own Rep. Edie Hooton is chair of the committee, and CU Boulder alumnusĚýRep. Alex Valdez, ofĚýDenver, sits on the committee for the second year in a row.Ěý
The CDC reviews funding requests for capital construction projects from all state agencies, and makes prioritized recommendations to the Joint Budget Committee. Construction requests seeking state funds are ranked by the CDC each year to help determine which receive funding from the legislature when the budget bill comes out each spring. Hellems was ranked highly by the CDC a year ago before COVID-19 significantly impacted the state budget and the committee was not able to fund all of its top priorities.
DiStefano reported Tuesday that the campus’s current deferred maintenance backlog for state funded buildings is $600 million, as reported to the Office of the State Architect. However, the total deferred maintenance backlog including housing and other auxiliaries is closer to $1.3 billion.
The proposed Hellems and Guggenheim projects are examples of the approach campus is taking to address deferred maintenance in aging buildings through renovations that also enhance teaching and research environments for 21st-century learners. This approach helps reduce the need for new construction on campus as utilization of these aging buildings is optimized through modernization.
“We hope you agree that we are good stewards of your important investments in students, our state and our economy,” DiStefano said.
DiStefano’s presentation also highlighted the approach taken by CU Boulder this fall to support a safe hybrid learning experience amid the pandemic, including enhanced cleaning and sanitation and HVAC modifications of facilities, among others. These measures led to no known cases of COVID-19 transmission within the university’s classroom spaces.
