Kansas Colleges Get Maintenance ‘Band-Aid’ From Federal Stimulus

Six state universities in Kansas will get $7.7-million in federal stimulus money to spend on deferred maintenance projects. But it’s only a drop in the bucket — Kansas’s six state colleges are facing some $825-million in deferred-maintenance bills, a fact that The Chronicle noted earlier this year. The Morning Sun, a newspaper in Pittsburg, Kan., breaks down the bill by state institution:

Kansas State University: $291-million
The University of Kansas: $226-million
The KU Medical Center: $90.5-million
Pittsburg State University: $67-million
Fort Hays State University: $51-million
Emporia State University: $50.6-million
Wichita State University: $49.3-million

The Sun notes that the Kansas Legislature will also kick in some maintenance money over the next five years, directing “$90-million in state funds and about $44-million in retained interest earnings to the six state universities.”

Paul Stewart, the director of facilities planning at Pittsburg State, which will get $10-million of that money, told the paper that the money was “just a Band-Aid.”

“It does do some projects, but everybody acknowledges that is just a start,” he said. That money will be used to renovate the university’s Porter Hall; the exterior phase of the renovation begins this summer.

That’s not the only job site on campus. Pittsburg State is also building five new dormitory buildings with 200 beds, which will be financed through $9-million in bonds, according to the Associated Press. If they’re built well, it may be at least a few years before those need maintenance, too.