Dive Brief:
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Skanska USA has signed a $113 million contract with Boston College to build a new campus recreation center, replacing the college's existing Flynn Recreation Complex, according to the company.
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Cannon Design is the architecture firm behind the four-story, 242,000-square-foot facility, which will feature a fitness center, running track, indoor swimming pool, basketball and tennis courts, as well as multipurpose rooms, Banker & Tradesman reported.
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The new project's exterior will match the Gothic style of the other campus buildings. The project is expected to be complete by summer 2019. In the last decade, Skanska has performed more than $1.5 billion of academic construction across New England.
Dive Insight:
Boston College's new recreation center is being partially funded by a private donation, but many colleges and universities struggle to find room in their budgets to perform even routine maintenance.
According to educational research group Sightlines, capital expenditures for facilities renewal is up slightly since the recession but remains below the highs of campus development reached during the 2008–2009 academic year. Capital investment in existing campus space has averaged $5 per gross square foot since 2007. Meanwhile, operating budgets are lagging factors like inflation and growth in the volume of built space on campus. And maintenance repair backlogs have risen 22% from 2007 to 2015.
Of course, some university and college systems are finding the money to make those capital projects happen.
The Arizona Board of Regents recently gave the green light to $300 million worth of construction projects at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. The projects include a $157 million dormitory, parking garage, recreation center and office building complex that will be delivered under a public-private partnership between the university and Texas-based developer American Campus Communities.
Universities are increasingly looking at P3s as a way to deliver their capital projects on time and on budget. Among them is the University of California Merced's $1.34 billion campus expansion P3 with the Plenary Group.
Other University of Arizona projects included in the $300 million program are the renovation of a biomedical science facility and other campus buildings, repairs to existing facilities and the creation of a "student success district," which will offer tutoring space, student support and a wellness center.