OMAHA- A $35 million renovation of the Durham Science Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha is set to begin in March.

Despite the price tag, the two-year project involves improvements that will likely go unnoticed once work is finished.

Sacha Kopp, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNO, said the renovation will essentially be an infrastructure upgrade to a building that has seen only minor touch-ups since it opened in 1987. The building — located near the northwest edge of the north campus — houses several academic departments including chemistry, mathematics, physics, and geology.

Kopp said that a lot of the classrooms will be refreshed with new technology and that new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning units will be installed. According to documents presented to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents earlier this month, electrical, mechanical and plumbing upgrades also will be made.

“It’s kind of like rewiring your house” in that the majority of improvements, while important, will likely not be noticeable, Kopp said.

Private donations will cover $20 million of the renovation project’s cost, according to the document presented to regents. The remaining $15 million will come from the state, thanks to a bill passed by the Nebraska Legislature to help NU tackle an $800 million backlog in building maintenance projects. The bill was signed into law in April.

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