California State University, NorthridgeCalifornia State University, Northridge
My 30, 1996
Contact: Bruce Erickson or
Carmen Ramos Chandler,
(818) 885-2130
The blitz is being fueled by $61 million in immediate aid from FEMA and marks the final phase of the university's recovery from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, Wilson said.
CSUN is also beginning construction this week on a new $22 million utility plant, funded by the state and unrelated to the earthquake.
"When we are done, we will be one of the most thoroughly modernized and renovated campuses in the nation," Wilson said.
"We will have solved the expensive infrastructure problems that plague virtually every campus in the nation and we will be in the enviable position of being able to focus our resources and attention on academic programs and student services."
Most campuses, she said, are troubled by aging utility plants, out-of-date telecommunications and computing infrastructure, asbestos problems, and the expense of meeting new codes for seismic safety and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The university's vice president for administration and finance, Art Elbert, stressed the distinction between FEMA'S support for earthquake rebuilding and state support for improvements and new construction.
"We are in the fortunate position of being able to repair our campus with the support of FEMA and to make improvements and add new facilities with the support of the state," Elbert said.
"We have received a cumulative total of about $246 million from FEMA, including the $60 million announced today," he said.
"By the time we finish, we expect the total to rise to about $270 million from FEMA, supplemented by $30 million from the state of California for earthquake repair." "We are beginning two years of very intense work to get the campus fully restored and better than that, with a thoroughly modern infrastructure," said Elbert.
The university is also planning to revamp its parking, traffic flow system, landscaping and campus signage and identification system.