Oh, snap! State screws over Auraria Campus
As a former grad-commuter-student at the University of Colorado of Denver, I still pay attention to some of the goings on over at the campus. The biggest of which, lately was the huge new Science building under construction just off of Speer Boulevard. They’ve gone as far as excavating for the foundation and generally making a mess of a huge swath of the campus. One problem: The state of Colorado decided to just stop payment on a a $37.5 million check to help the campus build the building. D’oh!
“The state abruptly pulled $37.5 million in financing earmarked for a science building under construction on the Auraria campus.
The fallout could mean the $120 million facility will not be built, and the campus will be scarred by a giant hole in the ground.Construction began in December on the five-story, 181,000- square-foot Auraria Campus Science Building, along Speer Boulevard, adjacent to Arapahoe Street.
The project’s construction costs were estimated to be $111 million, with an additional $9 million for furniture and equipment.It was being described as the first major building constructed on the campus in more than 20 years. It would have been shared by the University of Colorado at Denver, Community College of Denver and Metro State College.
The state’s Joint Budget Committee pulled the financing Thursday because of new, lower-budget estimates for state construction projects. “
Looks like it’s time for ol’ Bruce Benson’s famed “fundraising” skills to kick in, about 35,700,000 times over. But in the meantime, what’s so wrong with using the old science building?
“Benson said the current science building is so unsafe that pregnant women are advised not to take classes there because of fumes from science experiments.”
I honestly have no idea how this is going to pan out. I’m not sure that anyone can trust a legislature that claims to be so gung-ho about education, yet can unflinchingly screw over an important educational institution like this. On the same end, I’m not sure how anyone will just create $37.5 million out of thin air without cutting something else. (Although that bring the legislature back to blame, for promising money it didn’t even have and letting the colleges operate on that assumption)Well, at least the United States doesn’t need to worry about our flagging science and engineering education or falling behind nearly every other First-World country in those areas. We’re doing just fine.
State stuns Auraria, pulls $37.5 million for new science building : The Rocky Mountain News