Stephen F. Austin State University

SFA's new $13 million nursing building is set to begin construction later this month, and the board of regents paved the way Thursday by approving the sale of $23 million in bonds.

The regents approved selling Texas Public Finance Authority Tuition Revenue Bonds during a telephone conference. Danny Gallant, vice president of finance and administration at SFA, said the majority of the revenue from the bond sales will fund the new building, and the rest will go to campus maintenance, including projects relating to fire safety, the SFA theatre and the HVAC unit in the math building.

Gallant said the bonds are capital bonds, which means they must be used for a major construction, equipment or software projects. Despite the national downturn in the economy, Gallant said the university had a very good rate — around 4.3 percent — on the bonds. Last year, the university had similar bonds with a 4.1-percent rate, he said."The market has turned in our favor in the past few weeks. We were very fortunate that we issued in the right time," Gallant said. "Given the market situation and the economy the way it is right now, we think we got a good rate. We're still in the good range in terms of debt service."Gallant said it was not difficult to sell off the bonds at this time.

"I think the fact that (investment banking firm) Morgan Keegan was willing to purchase and underwrite the bonds and the fact that we got this type of rate indicates to me that there's a market out there. And from an investor's standpoint, treasury rates are very, very low."

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Richard and Lucille DeWitt School of Nursing will be held at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26, in conjunction with the board of regents meeting. The new building will be located at 5707 North St. and will sit on a 17-acre site donated by the DeWitts. The land was previously used for a distribution center for the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants owned by the DeWitts. That building was demolished in 2008 to clear the land for the new nursing building.

"This is a dream come true, and I can hardly wait to see the expansion of the (nursing) program," Lucille DeWitt said. "I believe this facility will provide the environment for educating some of the best nurses in Texas."

The newly expanded DeWitt School of Nursing is expected to help fulfill a statewide need for additional nurses and nurse educators, according to Dr. Glenda Walker, director of the School of Nursing. The new facility will house classrooms, laboratories and faculty offices, and it is scheduled to be open in time for the spring 2010 semester.