University Of Wyoming Trustees Select Wyoming Firm For Engineering Project
The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees has selected a Wyoming firm to serve as construction manager at risk for a major upgrade of facilities for UW’s College of Engineering and Applied Science.
The board voted on Friday to authorize a contract with GE Johnson Construction of Jackson for the $106 million project, the largest in the university’s history. The company was chosen from a list of four finalists that included another Wyoming firm and two from Colorado.
The project will include construction of a new engineering facility north of Lewis Street between 11th and 12th Streets and, if sufficient funding is available, changes to the existing Engineering Building south of Lewis Street. Part of UW’s Tier-1 Engineering Initiative, the project is intended to provide new spaces for modern instruction and research, including a new shop and student project areas, teaching and computer labs in an active-learning configuration, reconfigurable research labs with associated office and collaborative spaces, meeting/conference rooms, and an expanded drilling simulator facility.
Secondary elements of the project, if funding is available, include demolition of the old Sawtooth structure within the current engineering facilities, and renovation of parts of the 1927 South Building.
The work will be funded through $76 million in state appropriations, $15 million in projected private donations, and $15 million in state matching funds. No construction timetable has been established.
On another matter, the board voted to authorize a contract with MOA Architecture of Casper to provide architect and engineering services for the planned renovation of Hoyt Hall. The total $2.5 million project, to be funded by state appropriations for major maintenance, will include life safety and accessibility improvements along with repairs and enhancements to finishes in faculty offices, classrooms, study areas and other spaces.
On Thursday, the trustees were updated on conceptual planning for new UW residence halls to replace the university’s aging structures for traditional-age, first-year students. UW is required to report to the Legislature by October 1 on the residence halls, and the university has engaged a consultant to study the issue.