The funding for movable equipment for the Doudna Fine Arts Center renovation has seen its fate change and change again during a tumultuous year for the state budget.

In the first step for budgeting for the fiscal year that begins this July 1, Eastern asked the Illinois Board of Higher Education for $600,000 for movable equipment. The funds would pay for music practice rooms that can be used in temporary locations and then moved in to the finished building, Jeff Cooley, vice president for business affairs, said Wednesday.

But when the IBHE published its budget recommendations late last fall, it recommended $7.5 million. That would cover the total cost of the equipment, which includes anything portable, such as desks, chairs, lighting and speakers.

And when Governor George Ryan released his budget in February, he said Eastern will receive $6 million for the project. Cooley said that Eastern will request the other $1.5 million for fiscal year 2004, which begins July 1, 2003.

Doudna’s renovation falls into the budgetary category of capital projects, along with similar projects of Illinois’ colleges. Each is assigned a priority number, and Doudna was listed as the No. 5 priority. That means it will probably get the money, unlike Eastern’s $5.5 million electrical upgrade and chilled water loop project, which was priority No. 29, Cooley said.

Money the state gives colleges and universities for capital projects is separate from the state-funded operating budget that is seeing a $2.3 million rescission this year and a probable base cut next year.

The state is more likely to cut funds from operating budgets, Cooley said, because discontinuing capital projects just means the state pays workers unemployment instead of paying them to work.

“They’re paying either way; it makes more sense to keep people employed,” Cooley said. “I think everyone understands that.”

Generally, capital projects are funded through about priority No. 20, as funds allow, Cooley said, but since the first publication of the list, some items have been moved or added.

Offices and classrooms in Doudna are cramped and run down and a new building, which will expand across Seventh Street, will be built to the tune of $46.3 million by 2005. That doesn’t include the $7.5 million for the equipment.

Cooley said he doesn’t think asking for the $1.5 million in fiscal year 2004 will impact other budget requests. The IBHE has shown support for the project, he said, and the additional amount isn’t that much in capital project terms.

“In the scheme of things $1.5 million is a small price,” Cooley said.

For now, Cooley said, $6 million is fine for Eastern.

“We are very pleased with $6 million. It will allow us to move forward,” he said.