With only empty Clinique counters visible behind locked doors, the old Bookie building on Thatuna Street sits vacant, remnants of the once bustling store littering its hardwood floors.

The building – vacated in August – will continue to sit empty until the governor approves funding for needed renovations.

In its 2009-2011 biennial capital budget requests, WSU presented several projects in need of funding to Gov. Christine Gregoire, including some new construction, some infrastructure and some renovations.

The plan called for $16.1 million to renovate the vacated Bookie building into a “Design Disciplines Facility” that would house the Apparel, Merchandising, Design and Textiles programs, the Intensive American Language Program and the WSU police in the basement.

However, in a new scoring method used by the governor, WSU’s renovation category was not the highest priority compared to those at other state universities, said Larry Ganders, assistant to the WSU President and lobbyist in Olympia.

“None of the renovation projects at WSU were recommended by the governor,” Ganders said. “Renovations are a category we aren’t doing well in.” Programs slated to fill the empty building will remain in what WSU leaders call “substandard and scattered locations.” “We are obviously disappointed that the renovations were not higher on the governor’s list, but we know that the (WSU) administration is committed to our program,” said Karen Leonas, professor and chairwoman of the Apparel, Merchandising, Design and Textiles department.

The AMDT department and IAL program are based in Kruegel-McAllister Hall. The AMDT program also has labs and workrooms dispersed across campus.

Leonas said some of the amenities of the new Design Disciplines Facility would be office space, teaching laboratories, studios, computer labs and storage for a collection of more than 5,000 student-made pieces.

IAL Director Pamela Duran said she knows WSU is working hard to find space for IAL’s rapidly expanding program.

“We’ve grown tremendously this year,” Duran said. “Last fall we had 162 students, an all-time high for us.” For now, the old Bookie building will sit untouched until funding is found, something WSU will push for in the 2009 legislative session and again in the 2010 session if needed, Ganders said.

“We are going to have to go back and take a look at the scoring,” he said.

Other WSU projects higher on the priority list were funded, including the WSU Vancouver Applied Technology Classroom Building. The design of the Veterinary Medical Research Building is also underway, Ganders said.