Iowa universities spend private money to renovate presidential homes

Iowa's public universities typically spend less than $75,000 a year to operate and maintain state-owned houses for university presidents, but officials said they try to rely on private dollars for major updates or renovations.

The state Board of Regents this week approved a $375,000 renovation to the Knoll, the president's residence at Iowa State University. The costs will be paid using unrestricted private dollars raised by the ISU Foundation.

That project is an example of a large-scale update to a president's house that may happen only every 15 or 20 years, officials at the three universities said.

The houses, all valued for insurance purposes at several million dollars, are like any university-owned building that must be maintained and updated, officials said. While people may think of them only as the presidents' homes, the first floors of the houses are considered public university space and play host to hundreds of events with thousands of visitors every year, officials said.

“They are special places ... to bring people in as a front door to the university,” Regent Bruce Rastetter said this week in supporting the Knoll project.

Day-to-day costs of maintaining the homes - utilities, replacing a water heater or other appliances, changing light bulbs, removing snow or tending the lawn - are covered by the universities with money from facilities department budgets, officials said.

Those annual costs have averaged $51,800 over the past four years at ISU, with a range of $42,000 to $74,000 annually during that time, said Warren Madden, vice president for business and finance.

At the University of Iowa, the annual maintenance cost, including utilities, on the president's home at 102 Church St. was $48,000 in fiscal 2011.

At the University of Northern Iowa, maintenance on the president's house so far in this calendar year has run about $1,500, for things like changing exhaust fans and light bulbs. Figures for utilities to operate the house were not available from UNI this week, because the school is in the process of installing meters for separate buildings. So figures for some individual buildings are not broken out yet, officials said.

“For a building that size, it's not unreasonable,” Madden said of ISU's annual costs. “We treat it as a university building just as we would treat other buildings on campus. If something happened, it would be the university's responsibility to take care of it.”

The houses are all at least 100 years old, and maintenance needs increase as the homes age. UNI in 2008 replaced all the windows in the president's home at a cost of $70,000. The old windows were original to the 1909 house, and an upgrade was part of energy-efficiency measures, said Morris Mikkelsen, associate vice president for facilities planning.

“There are just certain things that need to be done to bring it up to current standards,” he said.

The presidents of Iowa's public universities are required to live in the campus houses, which also are the site of hundreds of fundraising, university and social events each year.

Madden, who has been at ISU since 1966 and worked under six presidents, said the Knoll has become more important as a public space over the years.

“I think the public-event activity has grown over the years significantly,” Madden said. “Certainly, presidents today spend a lot more time in fundraising, and inviting prospective donors to events or for dinner is part of building that.”

Timing plays a big role in deciding when major work is done at the homes, officials said. The UI completed a $2.9 million renovation at 102 Church St. in 2004 - work done partly during the transition between presidents Mary Sue Coleman and David Skorton. It's easier to do when the house is vacant between presidencies, officials said.

An elevator was installed in the house in 2008 at a cost of $152,000, covered by private gifts.

On that $2.9 million UI project, $1.16 million came from the UI Treasurer's Temporary Investment income, which is not associated with state appropriations. The rest of that project was funded by private money, UI spokesman Tom Moore said.

It can be a touchy matter when universities spend big money to renovate a president's home.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy in recent years wanted to put off major work at the Knoll because of state budget cuts that were hard on the university, Madden said. With Geoffroy retiring by next summer and a new president coming in, officials decided it was time to do the needed work using private money, Madden said.

They anticipated questions about why the work was being done during tight budget times, Madden said, but officials felt the project was of reasonable scope and was necessary.

New carpet on the first floor of the Knoll, at a cost of $90,000, drew the most attention, but the majority of the costs on the project will go to exterior work, such as new gutters and soffits and new windows, Madden said.

[naviga:h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em"]Related articles

[naviga:ul class="zemanta-article-ul"]

[naviga:li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"]Regents approve updates to ISU president's house (thegazette.com)

[naviga:li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"]Regents to choose new ISU president next week (thegazette.com)

[naviga:li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"]Iowa State to announce finalists for president next week (thegazette.com)