Special Board of Regents meeting called to consider legislative plan

Contacts: Daniel Wolter, University News Service, (651) 485-3214

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (03/24/2006) — The University of Minnesota Board of Regents will hold a special meeting on Monday, March 27, 2006 to consider a recommendation to ask the Legislature to approve a plan that would create a large metropolitan nature preserve and also provide funding for an on-campus football stadium. The new proposal would replace the university’s current stadium bill.
“This legislation is a real ‘win-win’ for the university and the entire state,” said university President Robert Bruininks. “It will result in some of the most beautiful, undeveloped land in the region being protected for generations to come, and it will provide the financing we need to bring Gopher football back the campus.”
Under the plan, announced earlier today by a bipartisan group of legislators, the state of Minnesota would acquire 2,840 acres of the university’s UMore Park property near Rosemount in Dakota County at a cost of approximately $9.4 million each year for 25 years. The environmentally sensitive land would become permanently protected by the state for public use.
The university would retain its rights to use the land for its research, education and outreach mission, which Bruininks said was consistent with the guiding principles the university set for UMore Park.
Bruininks said the legislation would also cut in half the proposed student fee to help pay for the stadium, from $50 per semester to $25 per semester.
“Under this plan, we’ll be able to significantly reduce the amount students will be asked to pay for the new stadium,” Bruininks said. “We’re hopeful the Board of Regents will support this plan and the Legislature will act quickly to give our private sector fundraising more momentum.”
The Board of Regents will meet at 4 p.m. on Monday, March 27 in McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis.