The Board of Trustees voted against the proposed renovations for the Farris Center on Oct. 4, deciding to move forward with ideas for building a new multi-purpose arena.

UCA President Houston Davis said, “The decision of the board today was that it was cost-prohibitive to do renovation. So now they’ve directed us to do the feasibility study and begin doing the architectural design work for what it would take to build a new facility.

“There will still have to be another action item in the future if the board decides to go forward with building a new arena,” he said.

The three main goals of the proposed renovation were the removal and replacement of the building’s air handlers and chilled and hot water piping, as well as the installation of American With Disabilities Act compliance upgrades.

Both the air handlers and the piping have been a part of the building since its completion in 1971. Twelve of the building’s 18 air handlers are not operational and beyond repair.

Although the average lifespan of these units is 20-25 years, UCA has been using them for 53 years.

“Those air handlers, to get them out of the building, we’re gonna have to cut holes in the roof and lift them out with cranes,” Kevin Carter, associate vice president for facilities, said.

The piping throughout the building continues to leak even after repairs.

“All the ceilings throughout the building have to be torn out to get to the piping to replace that,” Carter said.

Carter said, “The Americans with Disabilities Act went into effect in 1990 obviously, this was built way, way before that.

“If you spend any time in the Farris Center, you know it’s probably one of the worst buildings we have on campus for accessibility. When you come through the main entrance, you have two sets of steps just to get up to the concourses on the other side. If you come in on the side entrances, you can’t get into the other side without going upstairs. There’s no elevator in the building,” he said.

The estimated renovation costs came to $14.4 million, with $10 million going toward mechanical system renovations, $2.5 million to the ADA compliance upgrades, $1 million to the building envelope renovations and $900,000 to the architect and engineer fees.

The Board of Trustees announced renaming the HPER Center to the Thomas C. Courtway Student Recreation Center.

Davis said, “President Tom Courtway was the 10th president of this university from 2011 to 2016.”

Kevin Thomas, vice president for enrollment services and student success, said he was “happy” with the applications for the fall 2025 Commitment program, with 98 applications received on opening day, Oct. 1.

Davis said full-time employees will be receiving a $600 bonus that will be included in the Nov.15 pay period.

Chief of Staff Amy Whitehead gave an update on UCA’s self-insurance plan.

Whitehead said, “We have 1160 employees that are on the plan, and that doesn’t include beneficiaries or others in their family that may be on the plan as well. 

“So one of the things we’ve done this year, one of those strategies that we’re using to control costs, has been our pharmacy savings program we implemented in January, and that was projected to save $600,000 to $700,000 annually. And it is performing as expected, so we’re seeing some significant plan savings this year, and that’s really allowed us to be able to hold down some of the costs that we’re having to absorb as an institution and pass on to employees,” she said.

According to the agenda, the “Total projected costs for the health plan in 2025 are $13,957,001. This is a projected increased cost of $843,224 to operate the self-funded health plan, which is in its ninth year of operation. Of the $843,224 in additional costs, UCA will fund $741,606 of this increase.”

For employee premiums to fund $101,618 of the increase, Whitehead asked the Board of Trustees for a 3% premium increase for the 2025 calendar year.

“UCA is continuing to bear 75% of all insurance costs for our health plan, with employees just bearing 25% of those plan costs,” Whitehead said.

Whitehead also noted a 5% increase in dental.

“There’s a 5% increase that we’re going to absorb all the costs of so that was about $36,000 plus the $741,000 that we’re going to pay for our health plan,” she said.

The agenda also states that the “employee monthly rate will be reduced by $20 for BeWell participants that completed qualifying employee wellness activities between November 1, 2024, and October 31, 2025.”

The Board of Trustees approved the motion.