Plans to build a new College of Nursing on the main Albuquerque campus of the University of New Mexico are expected to take a significant step forward if voters in November approve the statewide General Obligation Bond C.
That bond will provide some $30 million for the construction of a facility that will not only house the school’s nursing program, but also its College of Population Health.
In a statement, Christine Kasper, dean of the school’s College of Nursing, said the anticipated 84,500 square foot structure “will provide the space necessary to increase enrollment and graduate additional nurses.”
Kasper said the new structure will additionally help provide “an interactive education that encourages collaboration and improves patient outcomes for our great state.”
The current College of Nursing building, located at 2502 Marble Avenue, was completed in 1975 at a cost of $3.4 million and, according to UNM officials, has outlived its usefulness.
The College of Population Health is currently located at 2400 Tucker Avenue in the Family Medicine Center, which was built in 1977.
The state-wide $155 million General Obligation Bond C will provide funding for higher education facility construction and upgrading projects across New Mexico.
Altogether, it includes $51.4 million for a variety of facility projects at UNM’s main Albuquerque campus, as well as its branch campuses in Gallup, Los Alamos, Taos, and Valencia.
By Garry Boulard
