June 07, 2011

Poshard urges renewal of construction spending

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- In a meeting this morning (June 7) in Chicago, Andrew Ross, Gov. Pat Quinn’s chief operating officer, briefed Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard and other public university presidents on the potential consequences of the legislature’s failure to renew spending authority for the state’s $31 billion capital construction plan approved two years ago after a decade of delays.
The meeting was a follow-up to Monday’s announcement that Quinn would call the legislature back into a special session to deal with construction spending. According to Ross, 52,000 construction jobs could be threatened if the spending authority is not renewed quickly.
“Southern Illinois University has more than $120 million in construction projects currently under way as a result of the 2009 capital bill,” Poshard said. “These projects are on time, on budget and are badly needed improvements to our campuses. This legislative hiccup needs to be corrected quickly to maintain construction jobs for our local economy and get these new educational facilities in place for our students and faculty.”
SIU projects currently under construction include:
• SIU Carbondale Transportation Education Center -- $56.7 million
• SIU Edwardsville new science building and renovation -- $78.8 million
(For more information, contact Dave Gross in the Office of the President, 217/545-8080, dgross@siu.edu)