Nixon touts Southeast campus improvements during visit

Gov. Jay Nixon made a stop Monday at Southeast Missouri State University to discuss how recent efforts from the state will help fund more than $10 million in improvements on campus.

The governor's visit coincided with the university's first day of fall classes.

As students made their way to classes around the Grauel Building, where Nixon and a small crowd were gathered, the governor shared how the building will be improved, thanks to a bill signed into law by the Missouri Legislature earlier this year. Nixon said he first called for the measure to make needed improvements to campuses across the state last year.

"This year, the General Assembly answered that call, passing a bipartisan, fiscally responsible bond issuance that will allow these projects to get underway," he said. "All across the state, we're spending $200 million, invested in projects at two- and four-year colleges and universities around our state."

Nixon said Building Affordability also will help Missouri's colleges and universities keep tuition rates lower. With a total of three tuition freezes, he said Missouri has held down tuition costs in its public four-year institutions to the lowest level in the nation. This new initiative is designed to help keep it that way.

"Every additional dollar the state spends on these projects is a dollar the colleges and universities don't have to raise through tuition and fees," Nixon said.

For Southeast Missouri State University, its priority project is the Grauel Building. Repairs to the building -- which houses the departments of mass media, English and communication disorders -- are estimated at $3.5 million to $4 million and will begin next summer. Grauel was built in 1967.

"The year of miniskirts, the release of The Beatles album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' and movies including 'The Graduate,' 'Bonnie and Clyde' and 'Cool Hand Luke,'" said university president Carlos Vargas-Aburto, who introduced the governor. "Yes, it was built almost 50 years ago, and it is my understanding only minor and cosmetic maintenance and repairs have been done to the building since it was constructed."

The building project will include upgrading electrical service, increasing the capacity of the HVAC system, renovating clinic and classroom space, making modifications to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and replacing windows for better energy efficiency.

Southeast's second priority is renovating the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems in Crisp Hall, according to the university. The work is needed to support the building's renovated teaching and lab spaces and to bring the building into compliance with the ADA.

Brandt Hall is the university's third maintenance and repair priority.

srinehart@semissourian.com

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