A glut of building projects in the State University of New York system will mean delays on two projects here at home. SUNY New Paltz’s new Science Building and renovations to the Sojourner Truth Library — amounting to $62.3 million of upgrades — will have to wait, college officials said.
“We have the funding in place for both projects, but SUNY has what’s called a ‘disbursement cap,’” explained John Shupe, the assistant vice president in charge of facilities management. “Even though there’s appropriated funds for the project, system-wide we can only spend so much money per year.”
New Paltz isn’t alone. Statewide there are 80 projects totaling roughly $700 million paused because the SUNY system has met that cap.
While it’s inconvenient to our local branch of the university, there’s not much to be done. “It’s a pretty firm line in the sand,” Shupe said.
SUNY New Paltz officials had hoped to complete the Science Building in spring 2015. Right now, it’s not totally clear when that work will wrap up or even when it’ll start.
Shupe was careful to frame this as a temporary setback — not a coffin nail. “It’s just a delay,” he said.
It’s unknown now, but the delay could also add costs to those construction projects. Typically, building costs rise by about 2 percent per year.
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