Interim President the Rev. William J. Byron, S.J., revealed that Loyola could not currently afford planned renovations on the main campus at the Spring Semester Faculty/Staff Convocation on January 16.
The planned renovations are to convert the old library into the new home for the departments of visual and performing arts. The cost of renovating and expanding the old library is estimated to be $20 million, according to Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Malcolm Woodall.
“We do not have the money we need for the capital projects we want to undertake,” Byron told the faculty and staff at the spring convocation.
The renovations to the old library are part of “Phase One” in a ten-year strategic plan to bring Loyola to national prominence. The plan will cost approximately $120 million, according to the Academic Affairs Strategic Agenda’s Web site.
The campaign, appropriately titled “Centennial Preeminence,” is designed to conclude with Loyola’s centennial celebration in 2012. The plan seeks to improve all aspects of Loyola. The plan includes physical renovations, increases in student and faculty size, and improvements to both Loyola’s academic programs and Jesuit identity.
Woodall explained that, in addition to the physical renovations, “Phase One” would also include improvements to academic resources, such as scholarships and professor needs.
In total, all of “Phase One” will cost approximately $30 million.
“In terms of total campaign goals, we are about right on target,” Woodall said. “We are running a little behind on the renovations side . . . but have donors interested in large gifts.”
Loyola has raised about $14 million of the $30 million needed.
Loyola recently received a $5 million donation from an alumnus, but according to Byron, the gift can only be used for endowed scholarship support.
“This weight gain of $5 million to endowment increases our capacity for student aid, but it does not enable us to put one brick upon another for capital improvements,” Byron said at the convocation. “We have to plan our way toward that goal by fundraising, budget transfers and borrowing. It will not be easy.”
Byron explained that philanthropy is vital for the success of “Phase One,” not to mention that of the entire “Centennial Preeminence” campaign. Also of great importance are loans, bond financing and beneficiary trusts.
“If you are going to do something that costs $15 million, and you have ten million, you must go out and get the other $5 million and bring the project home,” Byron said.
The renovations to the old library are a part of the East/West Plan. Included in this plan is a re-facing and a two-floor addition for Monroe Hall, renovations and the possible demolition of Stallings Hall, and an expansion of the School of Law into the space currently occupied by the Department of Visual Arts in St. Mary’s Hall on the Broadway Campus.
Woodall explained that a main goal of the East/West Plan is to move all undergraduate departments to the main campus. Consequently, the School of Law will be the primary users of the Broadway Campus.
