SAN FRANCISCO “”mdash; Budget plans for a new engineering
building at UCLA were approved by committee at the University of
California Board of Regents meeting on Wednesday.
The project will replace the Engineering 1 building, which
houses part of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied
Science, as it has been given a “poor” seismic
rating.
The new building is hoped to be completed by March 2006.
Much of the funding for the project will come from revenues
raised by the state from Proposition 47, a bond initiative approved
by California voters on the November 5 elections.
Funds from Prop. 47 are primarily allocated to K-12 schools, but
higher education is slated to receive millions to finance several
construction projects.
The UC budgeted capital projects over the next year on the basis
that voters would approve Prop. 47, though as late as September,
polls of California voters indicated the measure could go either
way.
Senior Vice President of University Affairs Bruce Darling
credited late advertising by the pro-47 campaign and the regents
for the initiative’s success.
“We couldn’t have done it without the unanimous
endorsement of this board,” Darling said.
If the measure did not pass, the building’s plans would not have
been canceled, but they would definitely have been delayed, said
UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale.
According to the executive summary of the project, the UC
decided to replace the existing building, completed in 1954, after
judging the costs would be too high to retrofit and update
facilities in a building determined to be obsolete.
“It’s reached the end of its useful life,”
Carnesale said.
When completed, the replacement building will be five stories
high and will feature both research and instructional labs,
including facilities for bioengineering research.
The bond will only fund half of the $50 million project, forcing
UCLA to take the remaining $25 million from its own funds.
Construction is planned to begin within one year, Carnesale
said.