The wrecking ball will have to wait.
The chancellor of the North Dakota University System has asked for a delay in the Student Union replacement project at UND. That’s because of President Mark Kennedy’s departure.
Chancellor Mark Hagerott told the Board of Higher Education’s Budget and Finance Committee – he wants to give interim UND President Josh Wynne a little time to learn about that project, as well as the plan for the University to issue $80 million in revenue bonds for the Union. Students would pay for it over time. IN a campus vote, students approved the project, and the increased student fees.
"The scope is wide, the complexity is deep," Hagerott said. "It will affect student fees for decades to come."
Hagerott said it's about the students carrying that debt, plus the nature of the facility.
"He (Wynne) needs some time to think through some of the aspects of it," Hagerott said. "I'm not asking anybody to cancel this."
Board member Casey Ryan says he agrees with a short delay – but no more than two months.
"It was voted on by the student body," Ryan said. "They're tearing up the town as it is on University Avenue. So I think we need an answer fairly quickly."