AMES, Iowa — Iowa State University has requested an additional $9.2 million to begin the second phase of construction on CyTown. WHO-TV reports the first phase of construction on CyTown is halfway done and workers are hoping to begin phase two in the near future, but the university first needs the approval of the Iowa Board of Regents to increase the project’s budget to do so.

Phase one consisted of building underground infrastructure, replacing the entire existing 40-acre parking lot between the Iowa State Center and Jack Trice Stadium, raising the project site to five feet above the Ioway Creek’s 100-year flood plain, and the building of a corridor for the entertainment district. Phase two would finish the work started in phase one and includes the relocation of the CyRide Transit Hub.

In Nov. 2022 the Iowa Board of Regents approved $28.5 million to start the construction, but now university leaders are requesting the board to approve a budget increase of 32% — bringing the total revised budget to $37.7 million, according to a regent’s document. According to the regent’s document, the additional funding would come from the ISU Athletics Department, private donors, and university funds. The second half of phase one is scheduled to be complete in Aug. 2024 and phase two is scheduled to be finished in Aug. 2025.

The Board of Regents is set to discuss the budget revision at its upcoming meeting from Nov. 15 to 16.