The Board of Trustees unanimously approved more than $1.8 million of the total $5.6 million deferred maintenance budget at its Thursday meeting to be borrowed from the Reserve for Future Construction Fund until July 1.

These 11 maintenance projects, officials say, need to start as soon as possible. Steve Lawrence, associate vice president of Facilities Management, said some projects will begin between May and June, and some may take up to six to nine months.

“The Reserve for Future Construction Fund will be reimbursed upon approval of the university budget at the July 15 board meeting,” he said. “The $1.8 million will not increase.”

Some of the projects, such as sidewalks, officials said, will also be good to get out of the way before students return in the fall.

Lawrence said Facilities Management will go around campus and look for sidewalks that are ruined, cracked or uneven to replace or fix. There will also be replacements for the roofs of Sweeney Hall, Finch Fieldhouse and Wightman Hall, he said, as well as several other buildings on campus.

There is more than 2 million square feet of roof space on campus and it will take $740,000 to replace the portion designated for this project.

“They couldn’t start on them without our approval, but now that they have it, maybe they will start on some tomorrow, but for sure within the next month,” said Trustee Brian Fannon. “(We’re) just trying to take advantage of good weather and the months of May, June and July.”

Other projects to be pre-funded include roof and building maintenance on Beaver Island and a floor project in Warriner Hall, among other things.

Capital Budget

The deferred maintenance projects are funded through the Capital Budget, which was also approved at Thursday’s board meeting.

The Capital Budget totals $7,257,600 and is split into three different categories. Besides deferred maintenance, categories include other projects and campus improvements.

With $237,600 in other projects, funds will go toward remodeling of portions of Rowe Hall to make offices for associate deans of the College of Medicine. The cost will be equally split between Academic Administration, the College of Medicine and the Capital Budget.

A big part of the campus improvements segment, which totals $1.4 million, includes work to classrooms. Ten classrooms will receive new paint, ceilings, floors and furniture, and will become mediated classrooms.

“I’m really proud of that program,” said David Burdette, vice president of Finance and Administrative Services. “If students get distracted by ugly curtains ... they’re not going to learn as much.”

This is the third summer a batch of 10 classrooms have been renovated, Burdette said.

There are 11 on the list year, because one is being cleaned up from last year. The rooms include Anspach Hall 255 and 260; Grawn Hall 102 and 103; Moore Hall 108, 109 and 201; Powers Hall 134; Pearce Hall 203; and Rowe Hall rooms 205 and 214.

One of Pearce Hall’s auditoriums, room 127, will also receive an upgrade through this section of the Capital Budget.

There were six projects left unfunded, Burdette said.

Those projects include a remodel or upgrades of athletic training labs in the Health Professions Building, music building acoustical modifications, a Moore Hall generator, a CMU Bookstore expansion, replacement of Bovee University Center’s main entrance and an expansion of Bovee University Center. All these totaled more than $16 million, with the UC expansion costing the most at $14 million.

“We just don’t have the money for it,” Burdette said.