Michigan Tech Names New Apartment Building, Plans New Labs
Michigan Technological University's Board of Control voted at its regular meeting Thursday to name the University's new residential apartment building Hillside Place. The 192-bed student residence on the hill above McNair Hall opened this fall.
"Hillside Place provides a distinctive name while keeping open the possibility of renaming it in the future if a donor were to come forward," explained Les Cook, vice president for student affairs.
Cook called the new apartment building "really upscale living for our students."
It features apartment units with private bedrooms for four students. Each unit has air conditioning and in-floor heating, two bathrooms, a living area and a kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The apartments are fully furnished. Study lounges at the west end of each floor provide panoramic views of the campus and the Keweenaw Waterway, and there is a fitness center, a sauna and a game room for residents' use.
The board also approved three future capital outlay construction projects that will be submitted to the state:
* A Next Generation Energy Complex expected to cost $29.5 million.
* A Human Health Research Center estimated to cost $35 million.
* A Manufacturing Research Center projected to cost $21 million.
Each year the University is asked to submit a prioritized list of building projects it would like to undertake in the future. State funding of any of the projects is not guaranteed.
In 2008, the state capital outlay bill provided $18.7 million to build the $25.3 million Great Lakes Research Center now under construction at Michigan Tech. The University matched the rest of the cost.
In other business, the board heard plans for development of a nonprofit corporation called the Michigan Tech Entrepreneurial Support Corp., to enhance opportunities for faculty, staff and students to commercialize their discoveries. It will fill the gap between technology discovery and the formation of a start-up company, said David Reed, vice president for research.
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