Ohio University already has begun plans for Grover Center's expansion, but if a state capital budget bill does not materialize soon, OU will be out of luck.

The Ohio Board of Regents recommended $12 million be appropriated for the completion of Grover Center through the State Capital Improvement Document. A capital budget bill, which includes recommendations from the board, is created by the state on a biannual basis in the form of bonds for structural improvements, board spokesman Clyde Eberhart said.

This bill should have been introduced last July but was delayed, he said. The General Assembly has been trying to develop a school-funding system in compliance with the Ohio Supreme Court's decision that the current school-funding system is unconstitutional. If the bill continues to be delayed, Grover Center construction will be put on hold.

In October 1997, OU submitted a list of projects for the board to consider, Eberhart said. The board is responsible for putting together a capital improvement plan for all state universities.

In December 1997, the board recommended more than $400 million be appropriated for higher education projects. It recommended OU receive more than $25 million for its projects, he said.

"The rumor has been that, sometime after elections, the bill will be voted on," Eberhart said. "The Board of Regents will then put together a bill of projects to receive funds, which can then be introduced in budget form."

OU is using funds left over from the past capital budget to start the planning of the Grover Center construction, said John Kotowski, director of facilities planning.

If the capital budget bill passes, the expansion of Grover Center will begin April 1, 1999, he said.

"If the bill doesn't pass, the project will sit," Kotowski said. "We will wait for the $12 million to be appropriated."

OU is counting on the bill passing to provide money for two other major projects. One project, a $400,000 partial renovation of Ellis Hall, already has been put on hold from this past summer, Kotowski said. An $8.5 million project for the Life Sciences building is to begin in September 1999.

OU is not the only school in Athens that will benefit from the capital budget bill. Local school districts also might benefit from the passage of the bill.

From the capital budget bill, communities derive a majority of funds to repair public school buildings, said Brenton Zuch, spokesman for the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission.

Every August, the Ohio Department of Education develops a list ranking the 611 school districts in Ohio by wealth, he said. The wealth of a school district is determined by factors such as property value, income and enrollment, he said. The commission then moves up the list of school districts and looks at the projects for each district, he said.

"We move from the poorest school district up," he said. "Then we send architects and engineers to study the existing structures to see if they need to be renovated."

The school districts to receive appropriations for funding will be determined after the capital budget bill is voted on, Zuch said.

Trimble Local School District was ranked last year as having the second-lowest wealth in the state, he said. Trimble has been unsuccessful in passing a local levy to provide income while a school-funding system is debated.