new mexico higher education facility improvement bonds win sweeping victory

In a landslide result, more than 66 percent of New Mexico voters gave a thumbs-up to a bond that will fund just over $136 million in building construction and improvements on the campuses of a number of higher education schools across the state.
General Obligation Bond D will provide $16 million in funding for the phase two Chemistry Building renovation work at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The school earlier completed phase one of that project, which also cost $16 million and came out of an earlier passed bond.
The phase two project will include upgrades to the building’s electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems, as well as the modernization of both classroom and office space.
Additional Bond D funded projects at UNM will include the $4.2 million construction of a new building for the College Pathways to Career Center at the Taos campus; and a new $7 million Reserve Officer Training Corps building that will house Army, Navy, and Air Force programs on the main UNM campus.
At the Las Cruces main campus of New Mexico State University, Bond D will fund $25 million for a new Food Science, Security, and Safety Facility; along with a Biomedical Research Center; and Animal Nutrition and Feed Manufacturing Center.
Those facilities will be built at three different locations on the campus.
The bond will provide some $1.4 million in additional funding for facility construction and upgrade work on the NMSU campus in Alamogordo; $1.6 million for the Carlsbad campus; and $1.5 million for the Grants campus.
Also, as part of the NMSU system, Dona Ana Community College is getting $1.7 million for a variety of facility projects on its Las Cruces campus.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe Community College is getting $5 million for a number of infrastructure improvements, including upgrades to cooling towers, updated fire protection, and the installation of alternative power generation sources.
The Santa Fe-based tribal college, Institute of American Indian Arts, is receiving $800,000 in Bond D Funding for heating and cooling system upgrades in its main Academic Building, which houses classrooms, studios, and offices.

By Garry Boulard

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