UofL committee approves construction projects

LOUISVILLE, Ky. –At a March 1 meeting, the University of Louisville Board of Trustees Finance Committee approved capital construction projects to improve storm water drainage on the Belknap Campus.

The projects will diminish flooding and divert storm water away from sewers. The work is expected to cost about $1.1 million and would be funded by the Metropolitan Sewer District.

Larry Owsley, UofL’s vice president for business affairs, told committee members that the construction was “part of a series of projects” designed to reduce water flow into sewer systems.

Finance committee members also approved renovation projects for Louisville Hall, a student residence building on Belknap Campus, and the Children and Youth Clinic at the Health Sciences Center. The residence hall work would be funded by housing revenues and the renovations on the Health Sciences Campus by clinical revenues.

All capital construction projects require full board approval before proceeding.

The Academic and Student Affairs Committee also met March 1 and heard a presentation by Roberto Bolli, who holds multiple posts at UofL, including director of the Division of Cardiology.

Bolli has earned international acclaim for his work in using stem cells to repair damaged heart muscle. He told committee members that, through his research, he hopes to continue to find new breakthroughs for preventing heart attacks and to repair damage hearts attacks have caused. Bolli’s research has brought more than $100 million in federal research funding to the university.