Temple campus upgrade to cost $1.2 billion

Over the next decade, Temple University plans to spend $1.2 billion mostly to develop its Broad Street corridor, including adding 2,000 dorm beds and building a new flagship library at Berks Mall and Broad.

Details of the project, dubbed Temple 2020, are contained in a 300-plus-page draft report on the university, prepared for its Middle States reaccreditation. The plan would not expand the boundaries of the campus.

President Ann Weaver Hart discussed the project in September in an Inquirer report, but declined to reveal its price tag. An announcement is expected soon, officials said.

The residence-hall expansion will increase the 4,160 existing beds nearly 50 percent. The library project will replace Paley Library, which has outgrown its space and can hold no more than 1.5 million books, the report said.

A science research building and an academic building also would go up on the North Philadelphia campus, according to the report.

The plan also calls for a $48 million renovation of McGonigle and Pearson Halls on Broad Street, including adding athletic courts, exercise space, classrooms, and offices. Architects are preparing designs.

The university would demolish the University Services building on Broad Street to put up a high-rise residence hall, campus dining, and retail space at Broad and Oxford. That will cost about $150 million, university spokesman Ray Betzner said.

A new parking garage or deck also is likely to be included, according to the report.

The university plans to pay for the upgrades through debt financing, state funding, private donations, and university reserves.

Of the estimated $1.2 billion cost, Temple said in the report: "Finance staff believes that this is a fairly conservative projection of what Temple can afford" given its current bond rating "and the expectation that demand and enrollment will stay strong."

The university estimates that about $700 million will come from reserves, debt financing, and private fund-raising and the rest from the state. The university's board of trustees approved the project in May.