New renovations on the FGCU campus were discussed during the most recent Board of Trustees meeting.
Any renovation plans budgeted at more tha $2 million are usually added to the campus improvement plan, a list of projects submitted to the Florida Legislature to request financing. The two priority projects requested in this year’s CIP are Academic Building 9 for $3.8 million and the expansion of the Central Energy Plant for $9 million.

AB 9 has been named the College of Integrated Watershed and Coastal Studies. This year’s request will be used to hire a consultant and get started on planning and programming. Next year, a follow-up request will be submitted for approximately $36 million for construction, and the following year, a request for $500,000 will be submitted for furniture and equipment.
Any potential projects budgeted at less than $2 million are considered minor projects. Tom Mayo, director of Facilities Planning, said these projects are mainly used to better utilize the facilities.
“We always have people and departments that need to grow from here,” Mayo said. “It’s what we call minor projects. You always have minor projects ongoing on a campus.”
This year, one of the minor projects is to improve the entrance to our campus through Ben Hill Griffin Parkway.­What were calling Phase 2 is the potential expansion of the South Lake south of the intersection and the median itself,Mayo said.
Phase 2 is set to begin this school year, while Phase 3 will advance the landscape from FGCU Boulevard up to Lutgert Hall and is expected to begin the following year.
Financing to improve campus security was also discussed, but no specific project has been designated for the matter.
Other potential minor projects will take place in the Buckingham property owned by FGCU.
[It] used to be a state-owned facility for assisted living or those who have physical or mental disabilities,Mayo said.­When the state had to close down the facility, the property was donated to FGCU. Mayo said the property is not being used for the most part as of right now, but it has potential for growth in the future. This year, minor improvements to buildings will be done such as fixing the air conditioning and mechanical systems in several buildings and the probable designation of a building for storage.
Howard Hall and Edwards Hall will hold some minor renovations as well.
Some interior renovations­ furniture layouts to be more efficient,Mayo said.Its all relatively minor within those student buildings. Library renovations were also lined up on the potential list.
It really is conversion to what we would call found space or space which is not being utilized, turning them into conference rooms or study rooms,Mayo said.
Mayo said a little contingency has been added to all of the figures thrown out at the meeting, since they were listed as loose budget amounts.
We havent gone through programming, so we dont know how much these projects are going to cost for when we really do start planning,Mayo said.
It may be a little more.