Bonding Bill passes without funding for MSU’s Armstrong Hall

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - For more than a decade MSU Mankato has been looking at options regarding Armstrong Hall.

Built in 1964, it’s one of the campus’s oldest buildings, but is also in the worst shape.

The university has been seeking bonding funding for a few years, hoping to demolish and replace the old building.

But this year’s bonding has come and gone, and its more-than-$95-million request has been denied, and according to legislators the cost was the leading factor.

“The Armstrong Hall project is badly needed, but its price tag is $95 million,” Senator Nick Frentz (DFL-North Mankato) said. “So for 2026 bonding, pretty simple math, a $95 million project and the entire Minnesota State System, 23 campuses was only allocated $64 million.”

Now MSU will regroup, going over every option.

The college has talked about every option from alternative fundraising to scaling down the project, with one idea to slowly build new building over many years.

Regardless of what route is taken, the university isn’t giving up and is planning on re-applying for bond funding next year.

“We’re also fundraising for it separately to see if we can’t find something but it’s a $121 million project total, and that would take a long time if we’re all on our own to do it, so I think we continue to work with our legislators [and] our communities to get this done,” University President Edward Inch said.

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