The University of Southern Mississippi main campus entrance in Hattiesburg,
- Mississippi Valley State University has the highest maintenance backlog totaling $108.2 million, with the University of Southern Mississippi close behind with $107.3 million.
Brad Rowland, Associate Commissioner for Real Estate and Facilities for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, provided the Senate Universities and Colleges Committee with the results from the most recent Gordian report last week.
Gordian Group Inc. was merged with Sightlines LLC earlier this year. Their contract established in August 2023 with IHL was to provide facilities management. The three year and ten month contract between IHL and Sightlines LLC included the formation of the Gordian report, which is used in conjunction with requests from each university to develop a funding request plan that is presented to the Legislature for the repair, construction and maintenance of facilities.
Rowland said IHL currently manages 1,631 buildings, comprising of over 42 million gross square feet of space, which makes up about 25 percent of the state’s buildings.
Within IHL, there are 171 active construction projects that total more than $1.8 billion worth of expenses. The projects are funded through a combination of state funds, university funds, private donations and federal funds.
In terms of age, many buildings are so old that they require significant ongoing maintenance to keep them operational.
“A lot of our buildings are over the age of 50 in terms of actual construction,” Rowland described.
The Gordian report states that it would cost $1.6 billion to address all building needs within the IHL system.
“When looking at all backlog and priority renewal across our system, their target investments is somewhere around the $130 to $140 million a year range,” Rowland described. “It’s important that we address the backlog. If we fail to address backlog that only continues to grow each year out.”
The bond request to the Legislature in the coming session is anticipated be $130 million.
“Overall, from a system-wide perspective, our buildings are not in bad shape. We do need to invest,” Rowland added.
Mississippi Valley State University has the highest maintenance backlog totaling $108.2 million, with the University of Southern Mississippi close behind with $107.3 million.
