Tearing down the DeWitt Student Center at Northwest College and building a new student center in its place would be faster and cheaper than constructing a new building in phases.

That was the conclusion of architects with Plan One and Nexus, who detailed those options for the NWC Board of Trustees during a recently completed level one planning process.

The cost to build a new student center all at once — including the temporary kitchen and dining space — is estimated to cost $35 million, or up to $40 million when allowing for “escalation to bid costs.”

That would require setting up a temporary modular kitchen to serve roughly 2,000 students and converting additional space — possibly in the Fagerberg Building — into temporary dining space while a new center is built.

“A modest remodel could repurpose this space into temporary dining, which would potentially be much less expensive than phasing the project,” the planning document says.

Another option for temporary dining includes using a Sprung building, a semi-permanent, tent-like structure.

The price of that option would be roughly the same as remodeling the Fagerberg Building, the document says.

On the other hand, completing the construction in phases would allow the existing kitchen to continue to function until a new one was built. The old kitchen and dining room then would be torn down to allow construction of the rest of the new facility during the second phase.

But phased construction would take longer to complete and, as currently envisioned, it would cost nearly $2 million, at an estimated total cost of up to $41.7 million.

“I think maybe we should take another look at this temporary dining facility,” even if it were to cost more money, Trustee Dusty Spomer of Powell said during a planning meeting in December. “We’ve got the time; it’s not happening next year.”

A decision on which construction method to use will be made during a future level-two planning process.

Level one plans involve visualizations to help leaders see how a building might look, but without detailing in hard floor plans, the team explained.

NWC President Stefani Hicswa said Friday that the student center project isn’t expected to begin for a few years, but it remains the most important element of the college’s five-year facility plan.

It is needed, among other things, to help attract new students, she said.

“Students are making their college selection these days on things like student centers and what’s in them,” Hicswa said.

Getting state funding for the project will depend on whether money is available, as well as legislators’ support, she said.

Hicswa said she, NWC Vice President for Administrative Services Lisa Watson and NWC Foundation Executive Director Shelby Wetzel have discussed the matter among themselves and community members.

“There are several different options we are looking at, and I think we can pull it together,” she said. “It really is the right time for the college to embark on this project.”

Putting it off will increase the cost of building a new student center, and it will delay the benefits as well.

“In 20 years, the building will be 70 years old ... so it’s time to start planning for this,” Hicswa said. “I’m here for the long haul, and I’m planning for 20 years out.”

Until recently, college leaders understood that a student center would not be eligible for state funding for capital construction, since it is not considered academic space.

However, Watson said Thursday that the college recently learned the state might cover 50 percent or more of the building costs, though it would provide no funding to maintain the facility after it’s built.

A financial appendix to the level one plan, completed last week, identifies methods the college might use to pay for the college’s portion of the cost.

“After seeing support from the State of Wyoming, the college will look into various debt financing to fund the project,” the appendix states. “Debt instruments could include a loan from a local financial institution, a loan from the United States Department of Agriculture through the Community Facilities Guaranteed Loan program, revenue bonds and general obligation bonds. The college will evaluate each of these debt instruments based on required loan repayment periods, interest costs, set-up fees and overall impact to Park County citizens.”

To raise the money necessary for such a large project, the college would need to partner with the Northwest College Foundation, utilize student fees and college reserves, and develop partnerships with outside governmental entities. 

Due to the size of the debt financing that would be required, the college also would need to work with Park County voters to pass a tax to raise money for the project, the document says.

Those options include raising property taxes for a general obligation or revenue bond or raising the sales tax through a capital facilities tax.

Much has changed since the DeWitt Student Center was built at Northwest College in 1968.

A planning team from Plan One Architects and Nexus gave a brief history of the center for the Northwest College Board of Trustees.

The building, built then on what was the west end of the campus, was designed with a sunken courtyard in front to add visual interest.

But, after the Americans with Disabilities Act became effective in the 1970s, it was necessary to add concrete ramps all around the student center to facilitate wheelchair access. Those ramps, while performing a needed function, added bulk to the exterior of the building and took away much of the visual impact of the facility.

As new facilities were built around the DeWitt Student Center, it became the center of the NWC campus. But its raised design, considered innovative at the time, now hinders traffic in and out of the building, prompting people to walk around it more often than walking through it, and it now serves primarily as a dining hall.

On today’s college campuses, however, student centers generally serve much larger and multi-faceted purposes, the team said. They are hubs of activity, offering recreation opportunities, gathering places, multiple dining choices, computer labs, study areas and often much more. They draw students from across the campus and often provide amenities for the public as well.

Because the DeWitt Student Center now is in the center of the NWC campus, its location is the ideal spot to build a new student center, architects with Plan One told the NWC Board of Trustees during meetings in December and January.

As envisioned, the new center would be a ground-level facility that students would walk through on their way to other points on campus, in addition to providing multiple destinations for many activities within the building. Part of the center would have a second floor.

According to the planning document, the new center could include zones and spaces for:

Retail enterprise

• Food service (Kitchen, seating, coffee shop)

• Bookstore/gift shop

Union services

• Administration suite

• Student Success (health and wellness center, think-tank rooms, disability testing, study areas, lounge)

Student activities

• Student government

• Student organizations

• Art gallery

• Rec co-op/outdoor recreation

• Activity spaces (climbing wall, billiards, gaming room, TV, lounge, meeting/conference rooms)

• Lounge spaces/information desk (group study rooms, commuter lounge, internet/email stations, print stations)

Fitness

• Specialized activity spaces (weight/fitness room, community/student classroom, spin classroom, multipurpose rooms)

Support

• Support spaces (lobby/atrium, change rooms)

NWC President Stefani Hicswa said there is a potential for providing instructional space for advanced classes through a partnership with the University of Wyoming as well.

Hicswa said a new student center will help Northwest College’s efforts to increase enrollment.

Students these days often make their college selections based in part on what activities and amenities are offered in student centers, she said, adding, “So many colleges are so similar; they can go wherever they want.”

Several Wyoming colleges have new student centers, and those facilities have helped with student recruitment, Hicswa told trustees in a previous planning session.