News release: A $3.1 billion plan for new and renovated buildings and other upgrades on the five campuses that make up the University of Massachusetts system has been endorsed by a subcommittee of the UMass board of trustees.
The plan proposes spending $1.8 billion on new construction, $1 billion on deferred maintenance, with the rest earmarked for information technology upgrades, new equipment, and other improvements.
The five-year plan covers 249 projects, including 10 projects totaling $43.3 million new to this year's capital plan.
The new projects range from deferred maintenance on the Whitmore building on the Amherst campus to a steam chiller replacement at the Medical School in Worcester. Most of the capital plan targets projects already underway on the campuses. They include:
Amherst: New Life Science laboratories and new residences at Commonwealth Honors College.
Boston: Completion of the Integrated Sciences Complex, the first new academic building since the campus was completed in 1974 - and a utility, corridor, and roadway relocation project.
Dartmouth: A new academic building and repairs to four of the oldest residence halls.
Lowell: Development of University Crossing, a facility that will allow for the consolidation of student services and back-office functions such as admissions and financial aid - and completion of the 3rd and 4th floors of the new Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center, which will be the hub of industry partnership and new manufacturing technologies and opens next month.
Worcester: Completion of the Albert Sherman Center at UMass Medical School, which will be a state-of-the-art biomedical research and academic center providing the resources and space to translate the pioneering basic science discoveries of its faculty, including Nobel Laureate Craig Mello, into innovative and effective human therapies.
Of the $3.1 billion capital plan, $1.1 billion is slated for the Amherst campus; $897 million for Boston; $286 million for Dartmouth; $513.2 million for Lowell, and $257.7 million for the Worcester campus.
