$52M in bonds propel MSU construction

Though many Missouri State University students will head home for the summer, the start of construction on a long-awaited recreation center will keep the campus busy.

On March 23, the Missouri State Board of Governors Executive Committee approved issuing bonds for $17.8 million for the University Recreation Center.

Also included are $4.4 million in bonds for the William H. Darr Agricultural Center, Phase III, which will be a learning center at the site on South Kansas Expressway.

Bonds for both projects, awarded to Springfield-based general contractor DeWitt & Associates Inc., are part of the board’s February approval of a maximum of $52 million in bonds for university projects.

First on the roster
The school has wanted a recreation center for several years, said Ken McClure, vice president for administrative and information services. Research into a center began in 2004, and in 2006, students passed a referendum, imposing a phased in, per-semester student fee toward the new facility. That fee, which was $30 per student in fall 2007 and will increase to $80 this fall, according to www.missouristate.edu, will cover $11.8 million of the recreation center’s $29.7 million total cost, said Chief Financial Officer Nila Hayes, and the remainder will come from bonds and donations.

Hayes said the recreation center falls into the category for auxiliary enterprise bonds, as the building will be generating a revenue stream in use fees once the project is complete.

Projections estimate that the bonds’ interest rates will be in the 4 percent to 5 percent range with a bond length of 25 years, though she said if they are sold for the shorter term, the interest could be as low as 1 percent.

The university is ready for the underwriter to begin selling the bonds to corporations and individuals, and plans are to break ground on the center April 16.

The 100,000-square-foot center, slated to be ready for use in fall 2011, will have an indoor jogging track, multipurpose rooms, a sauna, locker rooms, a fitness center, rock climbing walls, multipurpose activity courts, a recreational pool and a wellness center.

“The recreation center will be a marketing tool for student recruitment,” McClure said. It will be located on land west of campus residence halls, where tennis courts are now located.

McClure said that although the courts won’t be relocated, there are other off-campus courts students can use.

The timeline for the agricultural learning center, however, is less specific at this point.

“We hope to break ground on that project soon, but no formal date has been set,” McClure said.

The learning center will comprise 27,331 square feet, including classrooms that can accommodate livestock for hands-on learning, banquet facilities and office space for staff. In addition to the $4.4 million in bonds, the learning center will be funded by $2 million in private donations and $412,000 that was carried over from other projects, McClure said. While the interest rates and length for the learning center bonds are expected to mirror those of the recreation center, Hayes said the learning center will be bonded under the Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority for academic improvements.

Campus construction experience
DeWitt & Associates was selected for the recreation center from among a pool of 15 companies, with a winning bid of $19,845,870. There were 14 bids for the learning center, and DeWitt’s bid for that project was $5,273,100, school officials said.

DeWitt Senior Vice President Jerry Hackleman said the recreation center’s location in the middle of campus will present some challenges for his company.

“It’s a tight site and we won’t have materials setting on the site; they will be brought in as we need them,” Hackleman said.

He noted, however, that his company is acquainted with working within the confines of the campus.

“We worked on the student union renovation and were able to keep it open while we worked on that project,” he added.

Other campus facilities on DeWitt’s résumé are Glass Hall and the campus parking facilities, and the company also was a major subcontractor on JQH Arena.

DeWitt will close King Street on campus this summer to install utilities, but Hackleman said it should reopen before the fall semester begins.

And, he noted, the recreation center and the learning center will provide a much-needed boost to Springfield’s economy.

“These two projects will provide much-needed jobs for craftsmen here as well as to suppliers,” said Hackleman, who estimates there could be as many as 80 workers on the site during the first phases of construction and as many as 100 workers there toward the finishing phases.

“We’re very pleased to be the successful bidder,” he said. “We know this recreation center will be a very dramatic part of the campus.”[[In-content Ad]]