CEDAR FALLS — Discussions of using funds from the Athletics Department to contribute to academics seem to be a distant memory after the proposal of $89.9 million in renovations to Kinnick Stadium at Wednesday’s state Board of Regents meeting.

The full board is expected to vote on increasing the cost of renovations today.

When the regents approved construction on Kinnick at their meeting in August 2015, the projected cost ranged from $35 million to $45 million.

The Property and Facilities Committee discussed the possibility of more expensive renovations on Wednesday.

UI Athletics Director Gary Barta said the project would involve tearing down and rebuilding the stadium’s north stands. He noted that the project would be entirely funded by Athletics Department revenue and a multimillion-dollar contribution from an anonymous donor.

Aside from the addition of a scoreboard in 2013, the north stands structure has not been renovated since 1983, Barta said. He said this budget would allow for wider benches and aisles, various types of premium seating, and a scoreboard larger than the one recently erected behind the south end zone.

“The goal is not only to take care of the infrastructure but to enhance the fan experience,” he said.

The last major renovation to Kinnick — an $86.8 million project — were completed in 2006 and provided more upscale seating options, the construction of a state-of-the-art press box, more restrooms, and more concessions stands, according to the Athletics Department website.

Compared to these recent improvements to stadium facilities, regents’ documents say the north stands are “becoming obsolete by modern-day standards.”

University of Iowa student Brad Pector, a member of the unofficial student organization Iowa Action and Student Engagement, said putting the $89.9 million toward Kinnick renovations would be a “complete waste” and believes the money could be better put to use elsewhere.

Particular areas of concern for Pector were raising students’ minimum wages to the Iowa City minimum wage of $10.10, providing a salary for graduate TAs, and avoiding additional tuition hikes.

“I don’t know what we’re doing putting that money to a football stadium when Kinnick looks fine to me,” he said. “I don’t get the point of being so privileged that you’re frustrated over the seating in Kinnick rather than you’re a student at the university trying to make a minimum wage and you can’t.”

Funds from sports programs are kept separate from academics. In an April interview with The Daily Iowan, however, UI President Bruce Harreld noted the idea of changing this model of funding.

“For good or for bad, the sports-world revenue in terms of TV, radio, website, fans, the stadium is a machine,” he said. “As those revenues have gone up, I think it’s high time that we ask another question — could they actually help deal with those fiscal issues that we’ve got.”

LSU has used this model for years. The institution’s Board of Supervisors in 2012 approved an Athletics Fund Transfer Policy to annually contribute $7.2 million in athletics funds to academics, according to a statement released in July 2015 by the university.

As for whether the same change will occur at the UI, Pector said he remains skeptical.

“I don’t think Bruce Harreld is going to do anything about that,” he said. “It just seems like a fantasy right now.”

The UI declined to comment on the Kinnick renovations and Harreld’s idea of transferring athletics funds to academics until the regents vote on the proposal today.