ASU Eyes Phoenix GOs

Arizona State University officials said last week they may ask that funding for an expansion of its downtown Phoenix campus be included in the city’s next general obligation bond election.

The proposed project includes moving ASU’s Sandra J. O’Connor School of Law from the main campus in Tempe to Phoenix. School officials said they would like the proposal to be part of the bond package expected to go before voters in 2011 or 2012.

Phoenix voters in 2006 approved an allocation of $220 million in bond proceeds to build several buildings for ASU in downtown as part of an $878.5 million package.

The downtown campus has some 8,400 students, but officials expect the number to double over the next 15 years.

Work is almost complete on ASU’s bond-financed projects, including the $71 million Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, a $29 million nursing school, and a $30 million park that is shared with the city. Phoenix owns the buildings, but they will be transferred to ASU when the final bonds mature.

Mayor Phil Gordon proposed the relocation of the law school in his 2007 state of downtown speech.

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