PULLMAN, Wash. — The Board of Regents of Washington State University approved a supplemental capital budget request to the state Office of Financial Management Friday (Oct. 24), highlighted by $20 million for construction of the Spokane Academic Center at the WSU Spokane campus.
The center would supply needed classroom space for the Spokane campus; it would also provide classrooms, library and other support spaces for the proposed Nursing Building on the Spokane Riverpoint Campus. University officials hope to have the academic center building completed in 2006.
Two other parts of the supplemental capital budget request approved by the regents are $3.4 million for a wastewater reclamation project on the Pullman campus and $4 million for WSUNet, which would help fund high-tech infrastructure improvements.
In other action, the regents approved the sale of Hilltop Stables, which includes 54 acres of land, a farmhouse, stables and several out buildings. The land, located off Valley Road in Pullman, will be sold for $2 million. The regents also approved a $660,000 project to design and install a fire alarm and fire suppression system for Clark Hall on the Pullman campus.
The regents also approved the renaming of the livestock pavilion, which is being converted to serve as a venue for student presentations and special events on the Pullman campus, as the M.E. and Audrey H. Ensminger Agricultural Pavilion. The Ensmingers spent 21 years at WSU and are known worldwide for their educational programs and publications on agricultural practices and nutrition. M.E. Ensminger was the chair of the WSU animal science department from 1941 to 1962.
The regents’ next meeting will be Nov. 21 in Seattle.
