Another building could be headed Missouri Southern’s way, but this one has already been constructed.

Southern is poised to assume ownership of the Joplin Regional Center building on Newman Road near campus pending approval of a House bill sponsored by Rep. Brian Stevenson (R-Webb City).

HB 282 would authorize Gov. Jay Nixon to convey the property to the University, something University President Bruce Speck is looking forward to.

“I think we’ve already got 60 percent occupancy in the building,” Speck said. “We really do have a space shortage on the campus; some of that is because we’ve had to move people around to make sure we get the Beimdiek Recreation Center taken care of, but we’re still going to grow so we’re going to need more space.

“That is a building that’s in place, it’s a good building. We’ve already had some architects look at it and it’s sound. It’s adjoining campus, so we’ve got this piece of property that really goes with the rest of our campus. That would be great to have for us.”

A similar bill in the Senate last year would have required Southern to purchase the building, but this year’s HB 282 and the identical SB 15 contain no price tag.

The Joplin Regional Center serves those with developmental disabilities and is a part of the Division of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, serving 12 counties in southwest Missouri. With the Center using the building less, however, it created an opportunity for Southern to gain extra space.

“It has been utilized by the Joplin Regional Center for quite some time, however their usage is decreasing pretty dramatically,” Stevenson said Wednesday evening during testimony for the bill in front of the House Corrections and Public Institutions committee. “They use a very small portion of the building at this point and they expect their needs to continue to decrease.”

Stevenson told the committee the building would be used by Southern for a variety of activities, office space and students.

Despite lack of a price tag, the building still won’t be free for Southern.

“It would be deeded to us, we would not pay for it, but we’d have to do maintenance, utilities, that type of thing,” Speck said.

The Senate bill was heard by the General Laws Committee Tuesday, with members voting ‘Do Pass.’