K1体育 - Cascades today announced that with the passage of an omnibus capital appropriations bill the State Legislature has authorized the use of $2 million in lottery bonds for the purchase of a 28,000 square foot building for K1体育-Cascades in Bend. Provisions in the omnibus bill (HB5006) were drawn from House Bill 3627, introduced by Rep. Jason Conger (R-Bend) and sponsored by Sen. Chris Telfer (R-Bend) and Reps. Gene Whisnant (R-Sunriver), Mike McLane (R-Powell Butte) and John Huffman (R-The Dalles).
The building, located at 650 S.W. Columbia St. in Bend, marks a significant step for the 10-year old campus. It will be the first building owned by K1体育-Cascades and it provides a visible footprint in a central location in Bend. The building will house K1体育-Cascades graduate teaching and counseling programs and its administrative staff. The facility will also serve as an applied research center, with Bend Research leasing a portion of the space specifically for public/private research collaboration, and the Governor's Regional Solutions Center leasing another 1,000 square feet. AT&T currently leases 6,000 square feet and will continue to do so for at least three years. Moving the graduate programs to the new building will enable K1体育-Cascades to improve program delivery to undergraduates by freeing space for growth in Cascades Hall, the facility it currently leases on the Central Oregon Community College campus.
Said K1体育-Cascades Vice President Becky Johnson, We are extremely grateful to Representative Conger for championing this effort, and to Senator Chris Telfer and Representatives Gene Whisnant, Mike McLane, and John Huffman for their co-sponsorship and dedicated support. We especially owe thanks to the many Central Oregonians who supported this bill and to the Ways & Means Committee that included these provisions in the capital construction bill. During each of the last two legislative sessions the Central Oregon community has delivered significant support for K1体育-Cascades that has created positive and important results for their university.
K1体育-Cascades plans to use private support from a donor along with the lottery bonds for the purchase of the building. The full purchase price is $3.88M. The purchase will allow K1体育-Cascades to save $225,000 annually due to a reduction in lease fees on the COCC campus and through lease revenues at the new facility.
K1体育-Cascades anticipates offering graduate classes in the new facility beginning in the fall term.
Posted June 30, 2011.