The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the assumption of $100 million in new debt Wednesday, largely in order to contribute to the funding of a $154 million science quad-renewal project that will eventually see the complete replacement of three of the complex's oldest buildings.The venture consists of two phases, the first of which calls for the construction of a new building where K-Lot currently stands, followed by the demolition of the Kalman and Friedland buildings. The second phase will see the construction of a new building where Kalman stood, and the subsequent demolition of Edison-Lecks, eventually leaving two larger buildings in place of the three demolished ones.

Chief Operating Officer Peter French said the upgrades are vital to the continued growth of the University's science programs.

"Many of those buildings are the oldest academic buildings on campus," he said. "We cannot sustain our science program in these inadequate facilities."

The University is currently engaged in conversations with several prospective donors who could provide the $74 million in gifts-on top of the $80 million in debt now slated for the project-necessary to fund the plan.

The additional $20 million in debt will fund construction of the new Ridgewood dormitories, Associate Vice President for Planning Design and Construction Dan Feldman said (see story, p. 3). The new debt adds to the $150 million of long-term debt the University had previously assumed, French said.

French also said that while the need to renovate the science buildings had been recognized for a long time, the University was only recently able to raise the appropriate funds.

"We are in a much better financial position than we were ten years ago," he said, adding that the school's endowment has more than doubled in the last ten years, from $195 to $525 million.

The project will include updated teaching facilities, state-of-the-art laboratories and an internal design that allows future expansion without high renovation costs, according to the 2005 Science Initiative Mission Statement and Organizational Plan.

"Just go up there and look at the condition of the [science] facilities," French said. "It cries out for an intervention there, both in terms of a teardown and rebuilding and a renovation in order to meet the teaching and research needs of the faculty and students."

Chemistry Chair Peter Jordan said some of the science buildings were built before he arrived 40 years ago.

"Everyone knew these buildings were obsolete, but we now have the opportunity to do something for the undergrads and the science community," he said.

Prof. Irving Epstein (CHEM) cited air ventilation, temperature control and plumbing as some of the many deficiencies of the current facilities.

"It's very hard to do first-class scientific research in facilities that are basically out-of-date," he said.

Epstein said deteriorating facilities make it increasingly difficult to recruit top science students and professors, noting that prospective students or faculty would likely choose the state-of-the-art laboratories available at other institutions over "something that looks like it comes out of some movie about the way science used to be."

In an e-mail to the Justice, Prof. Stephen Cecchetti (ECON), who chairs the University Budget and Finance committee, said the University must proceed carefully.

"We need to be sure that the project is the right size-big enough to retain the preeminence Brandeis has, but not so big as to drain resources from the rest of the University," he wrote.

Cecchetti said he has confidence that the right size of the project will be determined since it will be completed in phases, and the University will have several years to settle on the size that is in the best interests of the school.

The University has retained Payette Associates, an architectural and planning firm with experience in building science complexes and hospitals, according to the Capital Project Web site.

The company is meeting with focus groups consisting of students, faculty and staff, and the planning phase is projected to be complete by the end of this year, according to the Web site.