As the University of Idaho searches for a new leader, campus officials believe the president’s residence — and its inefficient and outdated layout — could serve as a deterrent to a qualified candidate.
Theo Lawson | Argonaut
The presidential house currently sits vacant on campus. A new house costing up to $1.3 million has been proposed.
In order to address this issue Interim President Don Burnett formed an advisory committee to determine the best course of action to bring the house up to date.
Vice President for Advancement Chris Murray said, the position of president has changed significantly since the house was built in 1967 and no longer serves the needs of a president in their new-found duties that are much more externally focused .
Ron Smith, vice-president of finance and administration, said the house is not well suited for serving as both an event space and a living space — requirements of any modern day university president’s house.
Smith said the house is deficient primarily in the living space aspect: there is no master bedroom suite, the rooms are small and the layout doesn’t leave much room for relaxation. Smith said when events are being held there is really no room for the president, or his family, to get away — essentially during events the living space ceases to exist.
With these issues in mind, Smith said the committee — which is made up of eight members ranging from administrators and alumni to faculty, staff and students — evaluated several options to determine which one is most feasible.
The first option was renovation and due to the cost of repairs and improvements being fairly high at $500,000 the committee rejected renovation unanimously.
Next, the committee evaluated giving the president a living allowance for an off-campus home but this option was also rejected unanimously by the committee. Smith said, their concerns with this option included the difficulty to find a suitable home in Moscow and the potential questions posed by resale should the president move on. There was also the feeling that a residential campus should have a residential president to connect him to the campus.
The committee also evaluated the on-campus location of the house, and they decided that they did not need to move the house. The committee recommended the home be demolished and completely rebuilt.
Smith said, the Idaho State Board of Education approved $75,000 for design and planning. He hopes the entire project will be completed by next summer — a goal he admitted was ambitious — so the university could attract a new president. Smith said a new president’s mansion would serve as an attraction, while the current one is a detractor.
“We want a residence that reflects the importance of the president,” Smith said.
According to a UI press release, the project is estimated to cost up to $1.38 million total. Smith said the plan is to fund the project primarily with private donations. He said some general UI funds may be used for site preparation and demolition, but he doesn’t expect the amount needed will surpass $300,000.
Murray, who oversees UI’s fundraising efforts, said he expects the project will primarily be funded by a core group of large donors who he said are familiar with the house. Murray said a whole host of people have been there and said the home did not feel presidential.
Murray said when the home was first built it cost $877,000 in today’s dollars. He said he thinks this shows the cost of the project is very reasonable.
Brian Johnson, UI’s assistant vice-president of facilities, said facilities will oversee the project just as they would with any other campus construction project.
Johnson said the search for a design firm will probably start this weekend. He said the design process will likely take the next several months. Johnson said after design is completed they will look for design contracts, and once one has been signed they will have a more accurate timeline for the project.
Johnson said UI will have to go back to the State Board of Education for approval of construction costs.
Andrew Deskins can be reached at [email protected]
