Bond Of Trust

Phoenix voters approve downtown campus funding measure

There was a mood of celebration on March 14 as supporters of the higher education bond proposition in the city of Phoenix gathered to hear election results. At about 8:10 p.m., Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon declared victory — Proposition 3, which allocates $184 million in bond money to fund ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus, had passed by 66 percent.

The passage of Proposition 3, one of seven listed on the Phoenix ballot, is the first time in history that a city government has funded expansion of a state university campus. Other bond issues passed in the same election will benefit the campus indirectly; a grand total of $223 million dollars from the bonds will support the building of the campus and its environs.

ASU is partnering with Phoenix to build a campus in the city’s downtown district as part of a larger plan to revitalize and redevelop the city’s urban core. The city bought nearly $100 million in land to provide space for the first phase of the campus, which opens in fall 2006.

The campus initially will serve 2,500 students and 500 faculty and staff, but it ultimately will grow to 15,000 students. Once the 20-acre campus is built out, it will include academic buildings, student and regular housing, retail development, cultural programs and entertainment venues.

To launch the new campus, ASU is relocating several colleges downtown in August, including the College of Nursing and the College of Public Programs, which comprises the schools of public affairs, social work, and community resources and development. The University College, which houses the university’s exploratory majors, will be
headquartered at the Downtown Phoenix campus.

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and KAET-TV, Phoenix’s PBS affiliate, will relocate to downtown in 2008, along with the opening of the School of Global Health and Medicine.

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Artist's conception of the downtown Phoenix campus.

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