Minnesota State and U of M present HEAPR requests; systems warn deferred maintenance threatens programs and enrollment

Representatives of Minnesota State and the University of Minnesota presented their 2025 asset-preservation (HEAPR) requests to the House Higher Education Committee, asking the legislature for regular and predictable capital funding to address growing deferred maintenance.

Brian Swanson, Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities at Minnesota State, told the committee Minnesota State has 28,500,000 square feet of space in roughly 843 structures on 54 campuses and that much of the inventory is aging; many buildings are at or past 50 years of service. Swanson said the system’s footprint is overbuilt for current needs and that deferred maintenance continues to grow because state capital investment and operating resources have not kept pace with inflation. He described three priority approaches: demolition of end-of-life buildings, repair and replacement appropriations in the operating budget, and HEAPR bond funding. "The 25,000,000 we're estimating right now would demolish about 400,000 square feet of space," Swanson said, noting demolition yields recurring operating savings (no heating, cooling, insurance) and reduces deferred maintenance obligations.

Swanson described the HEAPR request as $200,000,000 to fund 65 projects and emphasized that HEAPR dollars renew building envelopes, replace mechanical systems, fix code and accessibility deficiencies and improve energy efficiency. He said campuses are heating and cooling buildings with aging systems and that failure risks are near-term; as an example he toured a campus with 400,000 square feet heated by two original 1970s boilers, one of which had recently leaked and required welding to remain in service.

Alice Roberts Davis, vice president for University Services at the University of Minnesota, presented a similar message and asked the committee to fully fund a $200,000,000 HEAPR request for the University. She said the University has about 30,000,000 square feet of space and that 8,800,000 square feet is now rated poor or critical, representing about 28% of inventory. The University also requested $20,000,000 for advanced design for a proposed farming and research complex (FARM) in Mower County, which the University said would use modern tools such as predictive analytics and robotics to maintain Minnesota's agricultural research leadership.

Roberts Davis gave a concrete example of programmatic impact: the Food Science and Nutrition building on the St. Paul campus (built in 1956) lacks adequate climate control and electrical/water separation needed to install modern industry equipment, and the University risks losing students to programs in other states that have newer facilities. She said state bond funding has been less predictable and that higher-education capital has fallen from a historical high to a smaller share of recent bonding bills.

Committee members asked follow-up questions about demolition, operational savings, and whether new construction includes recurring depreciation-like planning. Members warned that deferred maintenance can reduce enrollment and competitiveness. Representatives urged timely capital funding and noted the trade-offs the legislature faces given constrained bonding capacity.

Why it matters

Both systems argued that predictable HEAPR funding is the most cost-effective way to preserve state assets, support programs and workforce development, and prevent higher operating or tuition costs for students.

Ending note

Committee members heard data and toured examples of failing systems; both systems requested $200 million in HEAPR and additional targeted investments (Minnesota State: demolition and repair/replacement line items; University of Minnesota: FARM design $20M). The committee requested additional cost details and follow-up analysis.