Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1942 [PAGE 901]

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[May

16

Program. T h e University Counsel prepared a plan which was presented to the Federal Government, but in view of the limited powers of the Board it was first disapproved; this plan was reworked, rewritten and eventually approved by the Federal Government subject to certain conditions with which the University had to comply. F u r t h e r legislation prepared by the University Counsel made this possible. The plan contemplated a grant of $366,000 and a loan of $1,091,000 from the Federal Government. Some of the conditions with which the University was required to comply were of such a nature that several wellknown and able lawyers in Chicago and elsewhere indicated that the University could not meet them. T h e University Counsel worked on these conditions and on the set-up, refusing to acknowledge that the situation was hopeless, with the result that in the end the conditions were met to the satisfaction of the Federal Government, the grant was made, the University of Illinois Foundation issued bonds which the Government purchased in the sum stated, and the building was completed and ready for use in 1937. This general plan became the basis of the legal procedure used later in the financing of other University building construction. It was in most cases necessary to amend existing statutes and to enact additional legislation in order to make these subsequent plans possible. This legislation was in the main drafted and explained by the University Counsel to committees of the General Assembly and to other State Officials concerned. 2. Gregory Hall, Additions to Library and Hospital. W h e n old University Hall was condemned and ordered razed early in 1938 the Governor of Illinois included in his proclamation calling a special session of the General Assembly a provision for an appropriation of $700,000 for a new classroom building at the University. While this was not enough, and in fact was less than the Board of Trustees had requested as the absolute minimum, the University Counsel proposed and obtained the approval of a plan whereby the Federal Government permitted the University to use this State appropriation as the sponsor's share or a basis for an application for a grant of Federal funds which were used (1) to complete Gregory Hall, (2) to construct a much needed addition to the University Library, and (3) to add a new wing to McKinley Hospital. Thus this plan enabled the University to secure outright more than $500,000 of Federal funds for this additional construction. 3. lllini Union Building, Urbana. Largely through the personal efforts of the University Counsel and his negotiations in person with officials of the Public W o r k s Administration in Washington, the University secured a giant of $524,820 for the construction of the lllini Union Building. This grant wa< made subject to the University's ability to raise the balance of the funds needed to complete the building. By this time the legal status of the University of Illinois Foundation having been established, the Foundation was able to borrow $714,040 from an insurance company which, supplemented by a grant from the Federal Government and funds contributed by alumni, made possible the completion and furnishing of the lllini Union Building without any appropriation of tax revenues by the State of Illinois. T h e loan is amortized through a service charge paid by students for the use of the building and from the income of the building. T h e lllini Union Building is the fulfillment of a plan conceived more than thirty years ago for t h e . construction of a student-facultyalumni social center. T h e legal phases of the plan for financing the building were prepared by the University Counsel and incorporated in a joint report of himself and the Comptroller, submitted to the Board of Directors of the University of Illinois Foundation on May 1, 1936. The legal plan thus presented was followed in the construction and financing of the building. T h e University Counsel represented the University in almost countless negotiations with the insurance company and other agencies in developing the plan and securing the necessary loan. 4. Men's Residence Halls. This is the first men's residence hall on the campus of the University of Illinois, constructed during 1940-1941. No appropriation could be secured from the State for this purpose. A plan of procedure similar to those mentioned was used in conjunction with a financial plan of amortization developed by the Comptroller and the Director of the Physical