Miami University to consider $43 million construction projects 

ti-million dollar projects to be constructed on the campus in coming years.

On tap for approval is a total of $43 million in renovations and additions to the school’s Armstrong Student Center and to the former student union, called the Shriver Center, that sit across the street.

A $23.6 million second phase of the Armstrong Student Center is slated to start next semester. The project, as first reported by this news outlet, will feature a coffee shop, a gaming stop, career services location and retail spots. The project will use a combination of gifts and college funds.

And, an additional $20 million in upgrades to the Shriver Center will be made, if approved by the trustees Friday. Upgrades will include a welcome center, a 250-seat auditorium, convenience store and expanded bookstore, among other things, according to the trustee agenda.

Renovations to the building will make those services “more central” to students and families on campus, said a university spokeswoman.

The latest proposed upgrades follow a $400 million construction boom on Miami University’s campus and campuses across the country. Just this summer, the school wrapped up $93 million worth of renovations to the East Quad location of campus, and last year the school completed a$53.1 million first phase for the Armstrong Student Center.

The school will also consider Friday a six-year plan for $92 million worth of academic building renovations on the Oxford campus. Another $5.3 million for renovations on the Middletown and Hamilton campuses during the next six years will also be considered.

Miami will submit those plans, which involve only academic building upgrades, to the state for officials there to consider giving taxpayer money to the project.

A spokesman for the Ohio Board of Regents, the governing board for the state’s public colleges, said state funding is typically limited to “facilities that are more heavily focused on student instruction and learning.”

Source:  http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/miami-to-consider-43-million-construction-projects/nnnBF/