Additional funding for Events Center approved by Board of Trustees
An additional $1.5 million in funding will be allocated to the new Events Center following a vote by the CMU Board of Trustees.
Of that amount, $750,000 will be used to fix “unforeseen conditions, design errors and omissions.” A total of $100,000 will fund internal signage enhancement and $650,000 is for a 30-foot-by-10-foot video board and related video equipment.
David Burdette, vice president of Finance and Administrative Services, said design issues became apparent as construction progressed on the Events Center during the “ambitious design schedule.”
Steve Lawrence, associate vice president of Facilities Management, said the list of design errors is quite long and it would take hours to go over them.
“There are many of them that are very significant, very high-cost to repair and correct, but absolutely necessary to complete the project,” he said to the board.
Lawrence said he and his team are working with the design and architectural firm to “settle out financial responsibility of those repairs.”
“We are going to try and get every penny we can get,” he said.
Future revenue from the athletics department will fund the video board and related video equipment.
Athletics Director Dave Heeke said there is a funding mechanism already in place to pay the university back.
Heeke said the video equipment will be used for a variety of events other than just athletics. He said it was a very important component to the completion of the Events Center and could not be financed with the previous budget.
The building is set to open in time for the first home men’s basketball game against Temple in December.
