March 8, 2004

Bond issue approval is good news for UCSC projects

By Louise Donahue

Campus projects ranging from expansion of McHenry Library to major alterations at Baskin Engineering moved a step forward on March 2 when California voters approved Proposition 55.

Called the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act, the $12.3 billion bond measure includes nearly $54 million for construction and planning work at UCSC.

"This decision of California voters is very welcome news. Now, all segments of the state's public education system can move forward with critical facilities projects,” said Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood. “At UC Santa Cruz, for example, we will benefit from the continuation of the much-needed McHenry Library expansion. This and the other UCSC projects boosted by this vote help us prepare the work force and produce the research innovations that are so vital to California's economy."

While planning for these projects is continuing, the timing will be influenced by the budget process in Sacramento, said Frank Zwart, campus architect and associate vice chancellor for physical planning and construction.

Proposition 55 was a companion measure to an earlier bond measure, Proposition 47, approved by voters in 2002. Campus building projects are broken down into three components: preliminary plans, working drawings, and construction. The new bond covers various components; for some projects, planning work was covered under Prop. 47, with construction work covered under Prop. 55.

Projects funded under Prop. 55 include:

• Baskin Engineering: Changes to Baskin Engineering Building, to begin in December 2004 or January 2005, are a large part of UCSC’s share of the bond. More than $4 million would be spent to convert existing labs and other spaces to larger nanotechnology, biomolecular engineering, and electrical engineering research spaces and make safety improvements, such as adding sprinklers. Also scheduled for 2004-05 would be preliminary plans and working drawings, at a cost of $389,000, for another phase of alterations at Baskin Engineering. This phase includes a mathematics classroom, additional labs and research space, and safety improvements such as sprinklers. Construction for this second step would be tentatively scheduled to begin in 2005-06, at a cost of $3.94 million.

• McHenry Library: The McHenry Library project has $1.46 million set aside in the bond for working drawings in 2004-05. An addition to the existing building, in the area of the current loading dock, is planned. Once the addition is completed, parts of the current building will be renovated to provide improved library space and academic department, research, and institutional space. Construction funding of $32 million is tentatively scheduled for 2005-06. Additional funding, possibly from a future bond measure, will be needed to complete this project.

• Seismic corrections: Seismic correction working drawings and construction at four different locations, at a cost of $7.51 million, are also funded. Work at the Stevenson Academic Building, Hahn Student Services Building, Cook House, and Barn H near the base of campus, ranges from exterior bracing of buildings to less-obvious stiffening of structures.

• Digital Arts Facility: The bond provides $1.33 million in preliminary planning in 2004-05 for the Digital Arts Facility, a new building to be constructed between the Baskin Studios and the Music Center. The building is mainly designed to provide classrooms and laboratory space for those involved in the digital aspects of all the arts. Improvement in theater production facilities in the Experimental Theater is also funded. For 2005-06, $841,000 is tentatively set aside for working drawings on the project. As with the McHenry Library project, additional funding will be required to construct this project.

• Humanities and Social Sciences Building: The bond issue also tentatively includes $2 million in equipment for the new Humanities and Social Sciences Building in 2005-06, to be constructed on what was formerly a parking lot northwest of Cowell College. Construction costs for that building have already been budgeted, and groundbreaking is expected this winter.

Preliminary planning for infrastructure improvements involving exterior utility work at various campus locations are also tentatively scheduled, at a cost of $465,000, for 2005-06.

The education bond was approved by a vote of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent. It received strong support in Santa Cruz County, with 57.8 percent voting in favor and 42.2 percent opposed. Only three other counties, San Francisco, Alameda, and Marin, approved it by larger margins. (A breakdown of votes is available on the California Secretary of State’s web site.)

Prop. 55 provides the state’s three segments of higher education--the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges--with $2.3 billion. UC’s share is $690 million.

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