Trustees approve new construction

By Michael Macagnone

Pitt’s administration took another step Friday toward expanding…

Pitt’s administration took another step Friday toward expanding the University.

In a meeting that lasted less than two minutes Friday morning, the Executive Committee of Pitt’s Board of Trustees approved a $45 million proposal to expand five facilities on Pitt’s main campus, one building on the Greensburg campus and one on the Bradford campus.

The projects the Executive Committee approved at the short meeting had already been approved by the Property and Facilities Committee in February and by the Budget Committee in March. The full board must vote on the projects in June before they can go into effect.

The Executive Committee approved a plan to spend more than $900,000 renovating the first floor of Lothrop Hall. It also approved an expansion of the Bouquet Gardens, construction in the Chevron Science Center and Langley Hall and renovation of the William Pitt Union’s ninth floor.

The proposal also included a construction plan on the Greensburg campus’ Smith Hall and on the Bradford campus’ Fisher Hall.

Friday’s meeting “was pretty procedural,” Pitt spokesman John Fedele said.

“The Budget Committee basically made sure that we could pay for the plan that the Properties and Facilities Committee said that they wanted,” he said.

The expansion of the Bouquet Gardens apartments is a part of the University’s 10-year “master plan.”