The MSU Board of Trustees passed two renovation projects at its meeting Friday.
The board unanimously voted to establish contracts to renovate the Clinical Center and the Life Sciences Building, as well as replacing the electrical station that generates power throughout the Brody Complex.
University Engineer Bob Nestle said the contracts will be signed within a week and construction should begin shortly after.
Gunthorpe Plumbing and Heating Inc. of East Lansing was appointed to replace the coils in air units at the Clinical Center and to replace heat and ventilation systems at the Life Sciences Building.
The contract is worth $462,000.
Nestle said there are additional costs for design and inspection fees, along with a contingency charge to cover any unforeseen costs, bringing the total costs of the project to about $720,000.
Kares Construction Co. of Charlotte was awarded a contract of $373,000 for the replacement of the electrical transformers that serve the Brody Complex.
Nestle said the project also has additional fees, bringing the total cost of the project to about $1.5 million.
"The electrical substations were original and worn out," Nestle said. "The electrical cables were increasingly failing."
During its appropriation requests to legislators, university officials pointed out the per-student funding disparity between MSU and other institutions.
The guidelines provide the state with the university's most pressing needs, in hopes of receiving adequate funding for the university as the state works through the appropriations process during difficult budgetary times.
During the 2003-04 school year, Wayne State University was granted $9,160 per student and the University of Michigan was granted $8,611 per student.
MSU only was granted $7,167 during the same time period.
The request for funding in construction of a new music building angered Trustee Colleen McNamara, who thought it was inappropriate for MSU to be labeling construction for a music building as a top priority.
"I don't think we should address new construction," McNamara said. "In terms of the legislature, it looks frivolous."
When the issue to send the document as stated was called to a vote, McNamara was the only trustee to vote "No."
MSU President M. Peter McPherson said the document would be re-written before being sent to the Legislature.
Some trustees disagree with McNamara.
"You have to put everything in a proposal for the state," Trustee Dee Cook said.
