Nearly three years after announcing plans to renovate Norris University Center, Northwestern officials said they have raised only 12 percent of the money needed and have run into trouble attracting donor interest.
NU administrators have raised $2.4 million of the $21 million project but remain optimistic that they will raise the remaining funds, said Ronald Vanden Dorpel, vice president for university development. But University President Henry Bienen said Jan. 22 that he is “running out of money” to fund new construction.
Student groups and staff have become “frustrated” by Norris’ crowded accommodations, the lack of office space and hard-to-find lunchtime seating, said Norris Director Bill Johnston. He said he turns away about 200 groups each week because he does not have enough rooms for them to use.
“There just isn’t the space,” Johnston said. “We don’t have those large spaces like the ballroom or the new theater. We’ve worked really hard on this project, but we can’t even begin to meet the need of our student organizations.”
The disparity stands out amid the fund-raising success of Campaign Northwestern, which so far has raised more than $1 billion toward its $1.4 billion goal. Last week the Ford Motor Company announced it would donate $3 million toward an interdisciplinary center for global issues in the Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Vanden Dorpel said donors seem more interested in funding construction of new dormitories or other academic buildings than contributing to the expansion of the student center. He said he is trying to address this issue by soliciting funds from former Norris employees.
“We’re still trying, but we are going to need a few large gifts to get this project back on track,” Vanden Dorpel said. “I’m still optimistic. We just have to work harder at it.”
Bienen said donors might also be more reluctant to donate because Norris is already named.
Norris’ renovation proposals include two new performance theaters, a ballroom, fourth-floor office space and an addition to the building’s south side.
The Norris fund has received two major gifts – $1 million from the Grove family and $500,000 from the Norris Foundation – but Bienen said he does not think the project can be completed unless someone donates a “big slug” of money.
“Fund raisers like myself live in hope,” he said. “That’s what we do. I’m not saying that it can’t be done or that it won’t be done, but I’m telling you I can’t do it out of the general fund. That I can’t.”
Since the beginning of the fund-raising campaign, NU has started several building and renovation projects that, when finished, will cost the university $8 million in recurring costs each year, Bienen said.
For each of the other projects, Bienen said he typically has raised between 35 and 40 percent of the necessary funds before beginning construction. With 12 percent of the needed money, Norris doesn’t come close to this threshold.
Bienen said NU is continuing to raise funds for most of the other buildings in addition to raising money for Norris. For example, he said the nanofabrication building is still $15 million short even though construction is well underway.
“This is a batting average game,” he said. “You don’t have to bat 1,000. You can bat 100. One out of 10 is fine. It depends if the one out of 10 does it for you.”
Bienen said he might try to alleviate the fund-raising problems with a two-phase construction plan. University officials could then complete the first phase, estimated at about $14 million, while raising the rest of the money.
Of all the construction projects, Bienen said he is particularly committed to the Norris renovations because he knows students care about the facility.
“I’ve always had a lot of problems with the two-phase construction,” he said. “It creates a lot of chaos for a long time in a sensitive area of campus and tends to be more expensive. I don’t like doing it, but I’m willing to contemplate it to at least get some of it done.”
