In an effort to gain support for its $299 million capital request in 2014, the University of Minnesota has begun showing legislators its aging buildings, news sources report.

University administrators led media on a tour of these facilities Tuesday, according to the University News Service.

About $100 million of the capital request would be spent on updating old buildings, KSTP reported, like the mechanical engineering building.

There, faculty work with 1950s-era equipment, the Star Tribune reported.

"We're violating all kinds of codes," an unnamed professor told the Tribune.

Other items in the capital request include $15 million for a wellness center on the Crookston campus and $36 million for a new science and engineering building on the Duluth campus, the Tribune said.

The University is requesting about $232 million from the state and about $66 million from donors and bond sales, the Tribune said.

The request is subject to approval by the Board of Regents later in October, KSTP said.