The Las Cruces-based New Mexico State University may be in line to receive nearly $45 million in capital outlay funding when the state legislature meets early next year.
The New Mexico Higher Education Department has announced that it is recommending that lawmakers this coming spring approve some $20 million for the planning, design, and construction of what are defined as NMSU’s “critical improvements campuswide.”
The second largest outlay request is for $15 million to design, build, and upgrade the school’s Agricultural Experiment Station, and other similar facilities located around the state.
The state Education Department has additionally recommended up to $5 million in funding for the planning, design, and building of a new College of Engineering facility; as well as $4.7 million to demolish the school’s Cole Village on the south side of the campus.
A student housing complex, the Cole Village was built in 1966 and included two-story townhomes housing just over two dozen residential units. The village has been closed since 2017 and marked for demolition by NMSU officials for the last several years.
NMSU’s Alamogordo campus, meanwhile, may see up to $5 million in capital outlay funding to design and build new classroom space, along with $1.5 million for renovations to the Rohovec Fine Arts Center. Plans call for the Rohovec facility to be converted into an auditorium-style study hall.
The school’s Grants campus has been approved for by the Higher Education Department for up to $3 million to renovate its long-standing Martinez Hall.
Altogether, the Higher Education Department has recommended funding for up to 42 higher education campus facility projects across the state, with a total price tag of $307.5 million.
The 2024 session of the New Mexico State Legislature is set to begin on January 16.
By Garry Boulard