CEI approves construction of new 88,000-square-foot tech building
May 4, 2024
The following is a news release and photos from the College of Eastern Idaho.
IDAHO FALLS – This week, College of Eastern Idaho Board of Trustees convened in a special meeting and unanimously voted to approve a “Guaranteed Maximum Price” of $36,407,023 for construction of the new Future Tech Building on campus.
The vote marks a milestone in what has been a three-year effort to build this energy, innovation and technology building.
“We are simply bursting at the seams here on campus,” commented CEI President Rick Aman, “lack of classroom space limits our capacity to teach and train graduates for family wage jobs. The 88,000 square foot Future Tech Building goes a long way to solving these challenges with teaching space that is both flexible and state-of-the-art. The planning team designed Future Tech fully around the use of this building as a teaching tool, a ‘Swiss army knife’ … a multi-tooled, multi-functional, multi-purpose facility.”
“The State of Idaho Department of Public Works (DPW) selected Anderson Construction as the General Contractor for College of Eastern Idaho’s Future Tech building project”, explained Byron Miles, Vice President of Finance and Administration at CEI, “great collaboration with both Anderson and the State has ultimately resulted in success. We are grateful for their efforts.”
At the Board of Trustees meeting applause broke out after the vote. Trustee Cal Ozaki commented that the Future Tech Building is an essential building for the mission of CEI. The College plans for a community-wide drive to raise funds for needed furnishings, fixtures, and equipment to make the building operational were discussed.
“This building is a resource for CEI but also an asset for the whole community. The College enjoys great partnerships with businesses and the community at large. Its mission is to drive economic development through cost effective higher education,” commented Mark Madsen, Vice President – Strategic Partnerships at CEI, “we will look to the community as the building rises out of the ground to help make sure it can fully serve its purpose on the day construction is complete.”
In addition to classroom space, the building has areas suitable for larger gatherings — including business and civic events, collaboration space for students, and bay space. As its name suggests, the architectural design incorporates vanguard technologies engineered into the building itself. The teaching space is purposed to conduct some of the College’s most cutting-edge programs such as — cyber security, energy systems technology, nuclear technology, and battery and solar technologies.
Groundbreaking is expected in June; arrival of equipment and site preparation in the next few weeks. For further information, click here.