$78.8 million UNR Engineering building contract awarded

The Board of Examiners on Tuesday approved a $78.85 million contract to build the new UNR engineering building.

UNR officials say they’re wasting no time. Construction will begin in a week on the Evans Avenue site.

That’s the contract to actually construct the new state-of-the-art building. In addition, there are design, site work and other costs that raise the total price to more than $91 million, making the project the most expensive approved by the governor and Legislature in 2017.

UNR split the primary cost of the project with the state. The Capital Improvement Projects budget lists $41.5 million in state funds and an equal amount from UNR sources. That includes $23.5 million in philanthropic gifts, the main donation coming from the William N. Pennington Foundation. The 86,242 square foot building will be named after Pennington, a longtime Reno businessman and philanthropist.

In addition, campus officials say they have $24.25 million in revenue bonds supported by student fees, $8 million in cash and signed pledges to cover the rest of the cost.

It will be built under a Construction Manager At Risk contract with Core Construction Services of Nevada which officials say guarantees the price of $78,850,138.

That doesn’t include the Fittings Fixtures and Equipment costs which will be significant in an engineering building.

The four-story building will include more than 40 faculty offices, 150 graduate work stations, more than 40 labs, a clean room, large-scale computer lab, and classroom space.

That includes space for each of the Engineering College’s five departments: Chemical and Materials Engineering, Computer Science Engineering, Electrical and Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.

The complex includes the Laxalt mineral engineering and research, Palmer Engineering, Scrugham Engineering and Mines, Harry Reid Engineering Lab and the Earthquake Engineering Lab.

The project is projected for completion in the summer of 2020.