The University of Minnesota’s board of regents is set to review a plan recommending the school seek donations to keep the Eastcliff property, a St. Paul mansion that has served as the university president’s residence for more than 60 years.

If the board approves the plan, it’ll end more than a year of uncertainty surrounding whether the U would hold on to the riverfront property, after a task force report in 2022 questioned its upkeep costs.

A group put together by the board to review options for keeping the property will recommend the school seek private donations to help cover operating and capital costs.

The Eastcliff Property Task Force is set to present its recommendations at the board’s meeting on Wednesday, July 10. Their study found it would be feasible to raise money for operating costs and repairs over the next five years. The plan would have the backing of the University of Minnesota Foundation.

Most of the costs would be covered by philanthropy, but the U would still support some of the operating costs, the school said.

“With the bulk of expenses transitioned out of the University’s operating budget, this proposal would free up additional funding to directly support students, faculty, researchers and community engagement programming,” the U said in a news release announcing the plan.

Eastcliff was built in 1922 on the east bank of the Mississippi River near the University of Minnesota for lumber magnate Edward Brooks Sr. His family donated the property to the U in 1958, and it became the home of university presidents in 1961.

The 10,000-square-foot mansion has served as a space for honoring students and faculty and has hosted visiting dignitaries, such as the Dalai Lama in 2011.

Since last summer, Eastcliff has been home to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his family as the official Governor’s Residence on Summit Avenue undergoes major renovations. Their lease was set to run through September 2024, but there are options for an extension if the renovations take too long.

In the meantime, new university president Rebecca Cunningham, who assumed her role July 1, is staying in an apartment near campus, according to a university spokesperson.

In recent years, UMN officials started to question the cost of keeping the mansion. The board at one point considered selling Eastcliff due to maintenance and operation costs.

In December 2022 a Board of Regents task force said money the school spends on Eastcliff would be better used for other school objectives.

At the time, Eastcliff only had three endowments totaling $1.3 million, and the U said it would need between $15 million and $20 million from donors to create an endowment to cover expenses.

The mansion cost about $377,000 a year to operate between 2012-2022, with costs supporting maintenance, grounds and custodial staff, the Pioneer Press previously reported.

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