Ball State University is asking the state of Indiana to fund more than $50 million in new building renovations on the Muncie campus.  IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports.

For the state’s public universities, one of the first steps to a new biennial budget is presenting to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.  On Thursday, Ball State University President Geoffrey Mearns requested capital project funds totaling $58 million.

Mearns says Ball State won’t build anything new with that money.

“For the second straight biennium, we are not requesting a new building.  Instead, we are requesting a significant investment to rehabilitate several aging facilities that house, actually, some vibrant programs on our campus.”

(Credit: Ball State University)

If granted, the money would be used to renovate the Architecture Building, the Hargreaves Music Building, the Arts and Communications Building, and the University Theatre.

Planned renovations include improving HVAC and plumbing systems, fire control, and ADA compliance.  The university also wants to create active learning spaces and flexible design in some of those buildings.

Last month, Ball State officials said recently completed, underway, or already-funded planned construction projects on campus totaled $400 million.  All those are being completed on time and on budget.