Construction activity on school campuses will remain steady in 2013, with more than $380 million in major projects under way or expected to begin this year at Spokane Public Schools and local college campuses.

The Spokane school district has several building projects in progress or queued up to begin in 2013. Current jobs include the $59 million Ferris High School modernization, with Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, as the general contractor, and the Jefferson Elementary replacement project, which T.W. Clark Construction LLC, of Spokane, is building under a $12.3 million contract.

Garco recently won a job as general contractor and construction manager of a $16 million science and technology addition at North Central High School, with the construction portion of that project cost expected to be about $11.2 million. NAC|Architecture, of Spokane, is the designer, and site work for the 40,000-square-foot space is expected to start this summer, says Greg Brown, director of capital improvements.

This April, the district expects to seek contractor bids for the Finch Elementary modernization project, which has an estimated construction cost of $13.5 million. The project's total cost is expected to be $26.9 million. Madsen Mitchell Evenson & Conrad PLLC, of Spokane, designed it.

Another district project expected to go to bid this spring is for an estimated $5 million renovation to athletic facilities at Hart Field, west of the Jefferson Elementary site.

On university campuses, several projects are under way or soon will be at Gonzaga, Whitworth, the Riverpoint Campus near downtown Spokane, Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane Community College, and Eastern Washington University.

The $78 million, 110,000-square-foot Washington State University Biomedical and Health Sciences Building is nearing completion on the Riverpoint Campus for occupancy that's expected late this year. Graham Construction & Management Inc., of Spokane, is the project's general contractor and construction manager, and Seattle architectural firm NBBJ designed it. The WWAMI regional medical education program, WSU Medical Sciences, and the university's College of Pharmacy will fill spaces there.

Meanwhile, Gonzaga University has one of the larger lists of current and anticipated projects this year. Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, is erecting a $16 million, mixed-use building that the university is calling the Boone Avenue Retail Center, on the west side of Hamilton Street. That structure, designed by ALSC Architects PS, of Spokane, is expected to be completed by June.

That 250,000-square-foot, four-level complex will include 650 parking spaces, meeting rooms, temporary student dining space, and future retail space. The university bookstore also will be moved to the building.

Gonzaga recently announced plans for a 165,000-square-foot, four-level university center to replace the 58-year-old student center called the COG, at 702 E. Desmet. The estimated value of the project is $45 million, city of Spokane planning documents show. The university has said Portland-based Hoffman Construction Co. is the contractor. Opsis Architecture LLP, of Portland, and Bernardo Wills Architects PS, of Spokane, are designing it.

Plans call for the COG to be demolished and for the new center to take over that space and an adjacent parking lot. Pending approval by Gonzaga's trustees in April, the university said in its announcement that the project is expected to start in the near future.

The new university center would support student clubs and organizations, dining services, the university's ministry, student publications, and service learning, the university said, adding that it would include an 800-seat multipurpose ballroom, a 200-seat auditorium, and meeting spaces.

Gonzaga also plans to develop a $6 million golf and tennis center, city documents show, on a university-owned, 3-acre parcel of vacant land at 1220 N. Superior. The site is a few blocks east of Gonzaga's main campus, near the Spokane River, just south of Mission Park. The preliminary plans show a proposed 73,700-square-foot indoor sports complex that would accommodate six regulation-sized varsity tennis courts for practice and tournament play, and a golf practice facility with greens and bunkers.

The building would include locker areas, training rooms, showers, an athletic lounge, a central operations office, and coaches' offices, plans show. The university hopes to begin construction in April, city documents say.

Other higher-ed projects

On Spokane's North Side, Whitworth University is erecting a 32,000-square-foot student fitness and recreation center. Vandervert Construction is the contractor on that $8 million project, and NAC|Architecture designed it.

The two-level center includes three basketball courts, a workout area with weight and exercise equipment, and changing rooms on the lower level. The upper level will have a three-lane running track, an office for outdoor programs, equipment storage, and a lobby. The inside of the running track will be open to the floor below.

The building, which will be available to all Whitworth students, faculty, and staff, is expected to open by July. It's located on the northern edge of the campus, near a parking lot just east of Whitworth's tennis center.

The university also plans soon to begin an estimated $460,000 project to erect grandstand bleachers for Merkel Field, where its baseball team plays.

At Eastern Washington University, in Cheney, construction continues on the $56.8 million Patterson Hall project to expand and remodel the campus's main academic building. Contractor Leone & Keeble Inc., of Spokane, is expected to have the work substantially completed by the end of July. The building, which will have 135,500 square feet of floor space, is scheduled to be ready for classes by January 2014, after installation of furniture, audio-video equipment, and data systems.

Currently, Leone & Keeble also is erecting a 350-bed residence hall on EWU's campus under a $15.6 million contract. The five-story, 101,000-square-foot building is estimated to cost $25 million overall, including equipment, furnishings, and other expenses. ALSC Architects designed the building. The residence hall, which is scheduled to be ready for occupancy this fall, is located north of the University Recreation Center on what used to be a parking lot at 10th Avenue and Cedar Street. EWU's board of trustees approved the sale of bonds to finance the project.

On the Spokane Falls Community College campus, T.W. Clark Construction is erecting a $9.9 million classroom building that's expected to be completed by fall. The community college also expects to break ground soon on an early learning center, with Community Colleges of Spokane scheduled to seek contractor bids this spring, says Dennis Dunham, CCS's facilities director. NAC|Architecture did the design work, and the project's total cost is estimated at $3 million.

At Spokane Community College, construction of an estimated $5 million addition to the student services facility is expected to start this year to create space for conference rooms, classroom instruction, and the Institute for Extended Learning. Dunham says contractor bids likely will be sought this month. Integrus Architecture PS, of Spokane, designed the addition.

The addition has about 22,000 square feet of floor space and is to be attached to the southeast side of the 23,000-square-foot existing building, which is centrally located on campus, Dunham says. He says the college needs the extra classroom and office space, mainly for registration services and to replace the Institute for Extended Learning's Hillyard Center, at 4410 N. Market, that's scheduled to be torn down to make room for the North Spokane Corridor, also known as the north-south freeway.

On the WSU Pullman campus, the Northside Residence Hall is being erected, under a $25 million design-build contract awarded to NAC|Architecture and Graham Construction & Management. The 300-bed residence hall on the north side of the campus will be five stories tall and have 100,000 square feet of floor space. It's scheduled to be completed by July, and the overall project is budgeted at $32.6 million, which includes furnishing and equipment.

Pending full legislative funding, WSU could start work in August or September on a $57.5 million, 96,000-square-foot Clean Technology Laboratory building on the east side of campus, along Grimes Way in Pullman. The design-build team that was awarded the project includes the Seattle offices of Skanska USA Building and LMN Architects. Separately, Seattle-based Sellen Construction Co. is scheduled to start work in May on a 4,000-square-foot, $2.5 million WSU visitor center at Spring and Main streets, near the eastern edge of downtown Pullman.

Spokane Public Schools

Spokane Public Schools has a districtwide capital improvement plan that totals more than $330 million, when including $288 million from a 2009 bond authorization and state matching funds of about $44 million. Of that, projects under way or expected to start this year are exceding $120 million.

Upgrades include renovations or modernizations of several elementary schools and the Ferris modernization. It also covers new ventilation, roofing, and flooring at nine elementary schools; safety, security, and technology updates for the entire district; and building, field, or playground improvements for all schools.

Most of the building construction at Ferris is expected to be complete by January, with some exterior site work to continue until summer 2014. The Jefferson Elementary work is expected to be done by August.

In addition to the Finch Elementary project, the district expects by this fall to seek contractor bids for a Salk Middle School gym replacement project, which is budgeted at $14.5 million overall, with construction expected to cost about $8 million. NAC|Architecture designed the project.

The project scope for Hart Field recently was expanded from a preliminary estimate of $2.5 million to $5 million, Brown says, an amount approved by the district's board because of overall district construction cost savings. The changes include replacing the football field bleachers, adding space for weight equipment, and building two new tennis courts, adding to the eight existing courts that are being renovated.

The district also has applied for $12.5 million in legislative funding to construct a 36,000-square-foot NewTech Skill Center addition in Hillyard, which likely would go to bid next year if approved. The district hopes to expand its health-services curriculum and culinary arts program in the planned new space, which would be attached to the center at 4141 N. Regal. Bernardo Wills Architects is handling the design work.

Cheney School District

Leone & Keeble currently is erecting the $13 million Phil Snowdon Elementary School in Cheney, which is scheduled to open this fall. The new 55,550-square-foot building is located at 6323 S. Holly and will have capacity for 500 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Work on the new elementary school is being funded through a $79 million bond measure that the district's voters passed in early 2010, which also funded construction of two middle schools completed last year.