The University of Montana plans to ask state lawmakers at the 2013 legislative session for the entire $47 million it would cost to build a new College of Technology on the University Golf Course.

That’s opposed to last session, when UM requested $32 million to cover only the first phase of the project.

“We need it, so we wanted to put it on the table,” President Royce Engstrom said on Wednesday. “There’s a long ways to go before now and the end of the next legislative session. I’m sure there will be more discussion.”

Securing the entire amount would mean UM could bring the culinary arts program onto the new campus immediately. Included in the $47 million is about $4 million to extend infrastructure – such as water, sewer and Internet – to the golf course.

Meanwhile, there’s a contingent of residents who remain steadfast in their opposition to UM developing the golf course. They’re calling themselves “Advocates for Missoula’s Future,” and their main goal so far is preserving the University Golf Course.

Although Engstrom announced several months ago that the new COT building will be constructed on the golf course, Margaret Caraway, a longtime proponent of maintaining the status quo, said, “We’re still hoping we can change his mind.”