Amidst budget shortages coming as a result of COVID-19, MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities is looking to save $77 million by pausing, deferring or reconsidering multiple capital projects.
“Our Infrastructure Planning and Facilities (IPF) has paused a number of capital projects in an effort to address the budget short fall that MSU has been experiencing as a result of COVID-19,” Deputy Spokesperson for MSU Dan Olsen said. “Recently, the IPF team has posted a list of projects that they will pause, defer or reconsider until a future date.”
The announcement was made on Monday via the MSU Facilities Twitter account. Nineteen project in total, including three that were already in the construction process, were listed as deferred according to the master list linked to the Tweet.
Olsen said the IPF team decided which projects to defer based on a list of criteria including whether that project was necessary to maintain university research, whether it was needed to fulfill a contract or necessary to accommodate any incoming faculty and students. The stage of construction was also considered.
Hannah Administration Building alterations, Wells Hall renovations and Munn Ice Arena construction were put on hold amongst others, such as design for Spartan Stadium and planning for the IM Sports West Outdoor Pool replacement. This is the second time the Munn Ice Arena initiative has been put on hold, with the first time being in 2017 due to budget shortages.
Olsen said there is no specific timeline or set date as to when the paused, deferred or reconsidered projects will be put back into motion.
“We will continue to reevaluate as we continue to move forward but right now the list of projects that President Stanley shared with the community earlier this week have been paused until a future date.”
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