BELLEVILLE, Ill. — As school budgets continue to decrease, school districts are finding alternative ways to save on construction and renovation projects. One of the latest ways: weaving advertising logos into the sidelines of athletic fields.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Rutherford County Schools will need more than $287.9 million to carry out the most recent version of the school officials’ five-year building plan, which calls for the construction of six new schools. The construction projects would require tax increases to help with funding.
NEW ORLEANS, La. — On Dec. 6, Nearly 60 percent of voters supported a ballot proposition that will fund school repairs and upkeep projects across New Orleans for the next decade. The proposition will renew a 4.97-mill property tax currently used to pay off district debt and funnel those funds, an estimated $15.5 million annually, directly into much needed school maintenance projects through 2025. With additional funds from a district sales tax redirected by the state legislature, schools will eventually have an estimated $30 million for repairs at their disposal per year.
LA CROSSE, Wis. — University of Wisconsin La Crosse leaders have selected the collaborative of SmithGroupJJR, headquartered in Detroit, and local partner River Architects of La Crosse to design the university’s new $82 million instructional science facility. The project will involve a complete replacement of the school’s existing Cowley Hall, built in 1965, which houses the current UW-La Crosse science instruction facility.
DAYTON, Ohio — As the drone industry awaits much-anticipated federal rules on the commercial operation of drones in U.S. airspace, Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio is coming up with its own solution. The college plans to build a 12-meter-high pavilion that would provide students enrolled in UAV- and aviation-related courses to test their flying machines without being concerned about any current or future Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restrictions.
NEWARK, N.J. — Newark Campus of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) saved $1,155,000 in its first two years of operation due to a program that involved continuous energy supervision of its chiller plant, boiler and cogeneration facility.
FLUSHING, N.Y. — Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology recently completed a sweeping, multi-phased expansion and renovation that introduced a number of modern upgrades to the more than 70-year-old campus. The project took roughly three years to complete and transformed the private, four-year college into a progressive and technologically advanced aeronautical engineering institution.
BOSTON — Pulp & Paper International, a leading information provider in the global paper and forest products industry, honored a number of paper industry leaders for their resource-saving products and strategies at the organization’s October 2014 conference in Boston. Wausau Paper, based in Mosinee, Wis., produces a line of away-from-home towel and tissue products, as well as soap and dispensing systems, was one of the event’s big winners.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Change is on the horizon at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO). The school recently announced a two-year, master-planning process that will solidify the future of the university and develop a campus that better serves students.
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Several thousand students at six Rochester schools will soon be learning on new iPads. School board members voted unanimously on Nov. 10, with one member not in attendance, to purchase 3,480 Apple iPads at a cost of roughly $1.4 million. Each device will reportedly cost the school district $374, and the program will be funded through the district’s general fund and operating capital, according to
