The Board of Regents granted Iowa State permission to proceed with a $16 million renovation to the Memorial Union and the University Bookstore Thursday.

This is the first of three stages planned for the renovation of the Memorial Union.

Renovation plans include bringing the building up to code. This includes mechanical upgrades, roof repairs and the modernization of the first floor, especially addressing circulation and accessibility issues, according to board documents.

“The renovations will include eliminating corridors to improve access [to rooms in the Memorial Union],” said Warren Madden, vice president of business and finance.

The project will include the construction of a three-story pedestrian walkway directly connecting the parking garage to the ground level, first and second floors, Madden said. The overall construction will include two new elevators within the addition and renovation to the existing elevators in the parking garage, Madden said.

Construction is scheduled to begin late in the 2004 spring semester, Madden said. This phase of construction and renovation is planned to be completed for the fall 2005 semester.

An addition to the University Book Store will expand the ground level retail space and remodel the existing University Book Store space, according to board documents.

The University Book Store offices and storage area will be temporarily relocated to the area currently inhabited by the Alumni Association, Madden said.

“The Book Store has been in the Memorial Union since 1958 and has substantially had little done to the amount of space and the basic shell of the building,” Madden said. “In 1958, we had about 9,500 students. Today we have almost 28,000. There is the need to expand the store to meet the needs of the current student body.”

The University Book Store renovation is budgeted at $5 million, according to board documents. The University Book Store will fully finance its share of the project and should increase its revenue contributions to the Memorial Union, Madden said.

The bulk of the additional $11 million in renovation costs for the Memorial Union will be covered by fees that have been assessed to students over the course of many years, Madden said.

The last major addition made to the Memorial Union was in 1978 with the construction of the area currently housing the Alumni Association.

The ground floor of the Memorial Union was renovated in 1995, but did not include the University Book Store, which was renovated in 1992.

Three new programs were also approved by the board for the Iowa State curriculum: A Master of Arts Program in Rhetoric, Composition and Professional Communication, Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Human Computer Interaction and a Master of Arts in Teaching – Science Program.

A 2 percent pay increase was also approved for ISU President Gregory Geoffroy, raising his salary to $287, 513.

There was no question from the Regents before approving the finalized ISU budget for the 2003—04 academic year.

Regent Mary Ellen Becker commended Iowa State’s commitment to offer sufficient financial aid to students.

“I know you have in the past discussed the debt levels of students at Iowa State and I see that you have really taken a serious look at that and did an extraordinary job in terms of increasing the funding that you had for student financial aid,” she said.

A moment of silence was held at the beginning of the meeting Thursday for W. Robert Parks, ISU President from 1965 to 1986, who died July 13.

“He transformed an excellent land grant university into an exceptional one,” said Regent President Owen Newlin.