State budgets $1.5 million for Rupp Arena renovations
April 2, 2014
The proposed renovations for Rupp Arena will have $1.5 million set aside in a compromised state budget, agreed upon by a special state legislature committee Sunday.
In the original budget sent to the Kentucky House and Senate, $65 million was budgeted for the renovations. Mayor Jim Gray and Gov. Steve Beshear announced during the reveal of designs that the renovations would cost an estimated $300 million.
The amount allotted for renovations shrank considerably after deliberations by the special committee, made up of House and Senate members.
UK indicated that it sought a new long-term lease with the city of Lexington, which owns Rupp Arena, as part of funding for the renovations. But public funding will be reduced since the compromised budget was agreed upon Sunday.
In an email to UK students, President Eli Capilouto said the budget also cut 1.5 percent in state appropriations for operations in the next year, which equals $4 million.
The original budget was to cut 2.5 percent of appropriations for the state’s public universities.
Also in the email, Capilouto said that the state allowed the university to move forward with agency bonds “using our own dollars and private fund-raising efforts” for a $160 million renovation of the Student Center and a $150 million extension of the Chandler Hospital.
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