It’s official! Construction on CEI’s new Future Tech building begins

Dignitaries and members of nan organization during a ceremonial turning of nan ungraded Thursday greeting for nan groundbreaking of CEI’s caller Future Tech Building. Watch highlights successful nan video above. | Video by Isabella Sosa-Salazar, EastIdahoNews.com

IDAHO FALLS – College of Eastern Idaho officially collapsed crushed connected its caller Future Tech Building Thursday morning.

Construction connected nan 88,000-square-foot building is now underway successful an quiet section connected nan northbound broadside of nan Idaho Falls campus. The two-level building will location energy, invention and technology-related courses, specified arsenic cybersecurity and mechatronics, arsenic good arsenic IT and STEM programs.

“It’s constructed successful a very unfastened way. We don’t cognize what nan careers are going to beryllium successful nan early and it will beryllium built successful a measurement to accommodate that,” erstwhile CEI President Rick Aman tells EastIdahoNews.com.

RELATED | Construction slated to statesman connected caller Future Tech building astatine CEI successful June

In summation to schoolroom space, nan building will person a convention center, section testing laboratories and a ample gathering area for business and civic events, student group projects and bay space. Watch an animated fly-through of nan building here.

The full costs of nan task is astir $50 million. Of that amount, astir $32 cardinal is being funded by taxpayers. The remainder of nan money is coming from grants and donations from nan backstage sector.

The building is slated for completion successful nan autumn of 2026.

Incoming CEI President Lori Barber addressing nan crowd during Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

During nan groundbreaking, Aman noted this is his past charismatic enactment arsenic CEI’s president. Lori Barber, who antecedently served arsenic nan vice president of Academic and Student Affairs, was appointed to capable nan domiciled successful June, which went into effect Thursday.

RELATED | College of Eastern Idaho appoints caller president

CEI is nan only acquisition institution successful Idaho without a profession and method acquisition building, according to its website. These courses are successful precocious request and nan caller building will lick a batch of challenges pinch inadequate abstraction and constricted resources truthful CEI tin supply a “state-of-the-art” acquisition for students.

Aman is thrilled to extremity his tenure by seeing this task travel to fruition aft 3 years of planning.

“What a fitting end, what a awesome completion for maine successful my tenure arsenic president. I couldn’t beryllium much proud,” Aman says.

RELATED | College of Eastern Idaho President Rick Aman to discontinue successful July

Barber was heavy progressive successful readying for this building successful her erstwhile domiciled and is excited to oversee its construction.

“I surely can’t deliberation of a much breathtaking measurement to statesman this travel than by celebrating nan commencement of thing truthful transformative for our students, faculty, unit and nan community,” Barber said during nan groundbreaking. “We’re not simply constructing a building, we’re laying nan instauration for a bequest that will animate and strengthen for generations to come.”

Anderson Construction has been selected arsenic nan wide contractor for nan project.

WATCH HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GROUNDBREAKING IN THE VIDEO ABOVE.

The building of a two-level, 88,000-square-foot energy, invention and exertion building is happening successful an quiet section connected nan northbound broadside of nan Idaho Falls campus. | Courtesy CEI

A rendering of nan caller Future Tech building astatine CEI successful Idaho Falls. | Courtesy CEI