CHEYENNE - It's springtime on the University of Wyoming campus, and that means Frisbees are flying, wardrobes are changing and more students are zooming to class on bicycles.

It also means the return this year of lots of heavy equiptment and sweaty workers in hardhats.

An unprecedented construction boom is unfolding on the University of Wyoming campus, with more than a dozen projects underway or in the pipeline.

Major endeavors include a $16 million home for the archaeological and anthropological programs and a $14.6 million renovation and addition to the classroom building.

The university will spend an estimated $100 million this year renovating or building 500,000 square feet of space.

The spending is part of the more than $140 million that the state Legislature appropriated in the last two budget cycles for capital construction at UW. Surplus mineral revenues are credited for the funding surge.

The state will require UW to match dollar-for-dollar part of the infusion, which could stretch total construction-related spending to more than $200 million over the next 24 or 30 months.

"A lot of what we are doing is playing catch-up and recognizing that the university plays a vital role in economic diversification and new technology that is really going to grow the state," said Sen. Philip Nicholas, R-Laramie, who helped shape the funding as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

While the UW campus hasn't seen widespread construction since the previous energy boom in the 1970s, planning for the current crop of projects has been in the works for years.

University officials developed a long-range capital facilities plan about five years ago, under former President Phil Dubois, before it was clear that the state would again be awash in mineral dollars.

Initial projects under the plan, such as renovation and expansion of the Wyoming Union, were funded with student fees and university bonding power. Just as UW's bonding capacity began to ebb in the late 1990s and early 2000s, state surpluses appeared.

The new round of construction will bring some UW buildings and residence halls up to modern technology standards.

A massive renovation and expansion planned for the College of Business will bring that 1960s building into the modern era.

Similar upgrades are planned for residence halls built when clock radios and desk lamps were about the only appliances students expected to plug into the walls.

"We have made those facilities much more usable for the delivery of instruction to students," said Philip Harris, UW's vice president for administration.

Harris said generous state funding has allowed UW to move through its list of priority projects more quickly than was originally expected.

He predicted that the current campus improvements and expansion will accommodate campus enrollment growth for the next 15-20 years.

Inflation still a concern

The university is still considering how to pay longterm maintenance costs associated with some of the new construction.

Many of the academic buildings will be supported by reserve accounts that the Legislature required as part of the funding agreement.

Other projects, such as repairs to War Memorial stadium, won't require as much support.

But a number of the projects will require maintenance funds. Possible sources include more state dollars, redirecting a portion of student tuition or redirecting a slice of the state block grant.

"Long-term, those are concerns for us in terms of being able to maintain the facilities," Harris said.

Despite the volume of work underway at UW, planners there have been able to find contractors to submit bids and take on the many projects.

The supply of construction firms is strongest for small and medium-sized projects, but companies from across the state and Colorado have stepped up with acceptable offers most of the time, he said.

"We've had some projects we've had to bid a second time, but I can't say it's been an absolute show stopper," Harris said.

Taking a lesson from last summer, university planners built automatic inflationary adjustments into many of the bids.

In 2006, UW officials were forced to find millions more to complete the high-tech business incubator and other projects because of unexpected inflationary factors that included the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast.

"We're still seeing, in some cases, double digit increase in cost from a year ago in materials," Harris said. "But we have been more aggressive in estimating inflation costs."

Part of broader spending

UW isn't the only branch of state government seeing substantial funding increases for new construction.

The Legislature approved and Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed legislation that will allocate nearly $30 million more for construction at the state's seven community colleges.

On top of that, the Legislature authorized the community colleges to spend more than $100 million in locally generated funds.

Similarly, the state corrections' department budget has expanded more than $400 million since 2005 to pay for capital construction projects, including the new medium-security prison in Torrington, and projects at the Honor Farm in Riverton and the Women's Center in Lusk.

Nicholas said it makes sense for the state to invest in the university, one of its major assets, when times are good financially.

He noted that the state constitution requires the Legislature to invest in the institution, which has insured assets worth about $834 million.

"If you think in terms of having an $834 million asset, it's pretty natural to expect that we are going to put some substantial money in it," he said.

Reach Star-Tribune capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at {M7jared.miller@casperstartribune.net.