The State Building Board approved plans for an expansion to the University Guest House on Wednesday.
The next step is for the project to get approval by the Utah Legislature, which would issue a bond to the U to begin construction. Revenue generated by the Guest House would be used to repay the bond.
A total of 51 rooms would be added to the Guest House, the hotel located on upper campus, if the Legislature approves the plans in February.
“We did get approval to build from the building board, which means if we had the money right now, we could technically go ahead and build,” said Perry Hacker, director of the Guest House.
The expansion would cost no more than $10 million, Perry said.
“If we felt the cost might increase or changes would need to be made, then we would go back, re-present to the building board and they would decide if the changes were approved,” he said.
Perry said he hopes the plans are approved since the Legislature has approved similar projects in the past.
The Legislature generally looks favorably on projects that don’t cost it any money and have already been approved by the building board, he said.
Because of its proximity to the Primary Children’s Hospital, the Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University Hospital, the U Guest House accommodates families and patients year-round and needed more space as they continue to expand. Particularly, the U Hospital added 103 new rooms with its new Patient Care Pavilion earlier this year.
“We had heard from the hospitals that they would like us to expand,” Perry said.
The Legislature’s decision is expected to be reached in mid-March, Perry said. If it approves the expansion, Perry’s department at the hotel will evaluate the economy and look at what is happening on campus before deciding if the time is right to move ahead with the expansion.
Perry said he was not sure of a building timeline at this moment.
“We want it to be a viable project,” Perry said.