The University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved Friday a resolution that authorized the university to issue bonds for construction of a new cancer research tower at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Consistent with a bill approved last year by the Nebraska Legislature, the research tower will be funded by $50 million in state funds and $60 million in private funds. The bonds will serve as a bridge for gifts that have been pledged to the university over a period of several years – a common practice in private philanthropy and with major university projects. This action complies with LB 1089 and allows UNMC to move forward on the project.
“The support donors have demonstrated for the cancer center is remarkable, and we are grateful for their generosity and for the state’s important investment in the research tower,” said University of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken. “When completed, the cancer center will have a transformational effect on Nebraska’s economy, the health and well-being of our citizens, and the educational opportunities available to our students.”
The board’s action approved $40 million in bonds, which would be combined with already received gifts to provide the university’s match to the state.
The multi-level cancer research tower will have 98 laboratories dedicated to finding treatments and cures to specific cancers, such as breast, pancreatic, GI, prostate, lung and numerous others. The research tower is part of a larger comprehensive cancer center and ambulatory center project, which also includes 108 inpatient hospital beds dedicated to cancer, a multidisciplinary outpatient cancer center and an ambulatory (general outpatient) center. In all, the projects will cost $370 million.