SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown announced late Friday that she will ask the Legislature to approve an additional $39 million in funding for the Oregon State University-Cascades campus in Bend.

The funding is part of an $88 million financing package that Brown requested for OSU-Cascades, the University of Oregon and Eastern Oregon University.

“These projects serve high-need, growing communities outside of the Portland-metro area,” Brown said in a statement.

The money will be sent as a supplemental budget request that will go to the Legislature when it 
convenes in early February.

It likely won’t be known until early March, near the end of the 35-day session, if lawmakers will approve Brown’s request.

In a letter to the Legislature’s Joint Interim Ways & Means Committee, Brown asked that $39 million in a mix of bonds be issued to build a 55,000-square foot Academic Building 2 on the OSU-Cascades campus.

The governor said she expected that matching or gift funds would cover an additional $10 million, bringing the project’s price to $49 million.

The building would include laboratories, classrooms, faculty offices, and support spaces. The cost will include utilities and the creation of surface parking for the building.

Brown said the building would “provide spaces critical to support OSU Cascades’ growing STEAM-focused programs, including expanded engineering offerings, digital, media, and technology. In addition, the building will provide spaces for programs for health-related professions, teaching, and research lab space for the kinesiology program and newly designed programs, like an undergraduate degree in outdoor products.

The request also asks for $40 million to advance the planning and construction of the science campus at the University of Oregon, and $9 million for a fieldhouse at Eastern Oregon University.

In addition to fulfilling an educational need, Brown said the projects were committed to using Oregon-based materials.

“This package of projects represents multiple opportunities for Oregon. Each institution has committed to using Oregon manufactured wood products-particularly cross-laminated timber (CLT)-in construction,” Brown said.

—Reporter: 541-525-5280, gwarner@bendbulletin.com