Trustees approve $10 million of construction-related contracts

Some of the extra lab and office space will be used by INBRE, UW’s biomedical research program that is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Expanding the building contract with GE Johnson Construction will cost $6.4 million, all of which can be covered by money that had already been set aside for the project, including contingency funds that are no longer needed because the construction has been on-budget. All of these additions were included in early plans for the building, but were previously removed for cost concerns.

This will increase the cost of the building to $86.8 million, with $1.4 in contingency funds remaining.

The trustees took action on the plan to build new housing and dining facilities for students, the first phase of which will create new dorms with 1,000 and a dining facility with room for 850 people.

A $3.1 million contract with JE Dunn, a national building company based in Kansas City, will allow the university to integrate the builders into the design stage of the current section of the project. This will be paid for with the bonds that are expected to be issued to pay for the housing and dining project.

The board also approved up to $500,000 in repairs to the AMK Ranch, the home in Grand Teton National Park of a research center from the University and Wyoming and the National Park Service.

The trustees approved a real estate purchase during their board meeting June 10 without any public disclosure of the price, location or current owner of the property.

The purchase was not included in the meeting agenda, and the trustees of the university did not discuss any of the details during the public session of the meeting.

The university will not disclose any details of the purchase until it closes on June 30, Chad Baldwin, a university spokesperson, told the Boomerang after the meeting.

In May, the trustees also approved a handful of construction contracts, with Laramie companies handling much of that work.

Interim Vice President for Administration William Mai said Wyoming vendors are usually given preference for projects.

“UW administration and trustees strive to contract with Wyoming companies whenever possible,” Mai wrote in an email. “The idea is to keep Wyoming money working in Wyoming to help our economy and provide jobs for Wyoming residents.”

The board approved a $349,217 construction manager contract with Haselden Construction of Laramie for the construction of a multi-story parking garage, where campus currently has a parking lot between 10th and 11th street. The project would consist of a 400-stall parking structure and would also include a facility for the UW Police Department.

Haselden Construction of Laramie was also selected for a $408,654 construction contract for the demolition of Wyoming Hall in order to make way for the construction of new student housing. The board authorized the demolition of Wyoming Hall in September 2019.

G.H. Phipps Construction of Wyoming was selected for a $100,000 construction contract for the Bus Maintenance Facility project, which would construct a bus maintenance facility at 2102 S. 15th Street to replace the current bus service and repair area currently in the lower level of the Service Building.

For a planned War Memorial West Stand renovation and natatorium, the board approved a motion to enter into contract negotiations for design services with Arete Design Group of Sheridan.

The board approved a $840,168 construction contract with J.D. Hammeker Construction for a planned horse boarding facility. During the May meeting, Board Vice Chairman John McKinley said $500,000 of the funding came from legislature appropriation and the other $340,168 was from the permanent agriculture land income fund.