School’s out, so construction ramps up on Iowa campuses

IOWA CITY — School’s out for the summer for most Iowa college and university students, but that doesn’t mean work has stopped across the sprawling campuses — where hard hats have replaced commencement caps and skid loaders have taken the place of scooters.

“With a smaller student body on campus, summer typically brings a noticeable uptick in construction and maintenance projects,” according to Iowa State University, reporting work planned for its Ames campus over the coming months on projects totaling $220.9 million in construction costs.

The University of Iowa over the summer will begin, continue or complete work on more than 90 projects totaling more than $752.3 million in construction dollars — including renovations, expansions and new buildings.

And the University of Northern Iowa is planning about $70 million in improvements and upgrades this summer — including a renovation of its Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center and rejuvenation of its iconic 50-year-old UNI-Dome.

“The timeline for phase I extends through summer to the end of August, with completion of phase I before the first UNI Panthers home football game,” UNI officials said in an update of the UNI-Dome project, which will encompass multiple phases and include roof repairs, restroom upgrades, elevator improvements and upscaled seating.

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Economic impact

The campuses’ summer construction — one of Iowa’s largest labor industries — boosts the state’s economy, which in April reported 3,100 fewer construction jobs than in March, according to Iowa Workforce Development. The May report, due out June 20, should reflect additional hiring.

Iowa’s labor force participation rate is now up to 67 percent, still below the 70 percent rate in 2019 before the pandemic, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Construction is among several sectors in Iowa that have seen a net increase in jobs since the pandemic.

Since January 2020, “construction” has upped its share of statewide jobs by more than 7 percent — the most of any sector — while others like “information” have dropped by more than 10 percent.

And more job opportunities are popping up all the time on the universities’ bid and solicitation websites — with many of the projects, including several multimillion-dollar endeavors on the UI campus, going to Iowa-based companies.

Finding workers

City Construction, of Iowa City, is working on seven UI projects right now — including several larger ones like UI Health Care’s $41 million build out of its neonatal intensive care unit in the Stead Family Children’s Hospital; its $15 million burn treatment center expansion; a $16.9 million Bowen Science Building renovation; and a $7.5 million Van Allen Hall upgrade.

“It’s definitely helped us stay and even grow a little,” City Construction Vice President Dustin Nordell told The Gazette about the steady stream of university opportunities. “The school district had a lot of stuff going on for the last eight years, and they've kind of slowed down a little bit.

“So the University of Iowa picking up and making it so there's still that amount of work in this area … makes it so we can keep going the way we've been going and staying healthy and growing.”

With 25 to 30 workers, Nordell said, “I can't think that we've laid off anyone in the past eight years.”

In fact, 68 percent of employers in Iowa’s construction industry reported challenges finding qualified job candidates — among the higher percentages across labor sectors, topped only by education and health care employers, according to an Iowa Workforce Development survey.

Nearly half of construction companies polled said they’ve responded to that challenge by either hiring less qualified applicants or shifting their pay scale. They’ve also expanded job duties of current workers, increased overtime or chosen not to fill a position.

“There's definitely still labor shortage issues,” Nordell said. “For us, it hasn't been terribly bad. But our subcontractors that we use definitely seem to be short-staffed. But then, I feel like they're busier, too, so I think that goes hand in hand.

“They’ve probably got more work with the same amount of guys they had five years ago,” he said.

Material costs up

Nordell said construction material prices are up, too, echoing comments UI facility heads have made to regents in requesting budget increases for certain projects, including the new UIHC hospital in North Liberty that saw its budget swell 33 percent from $395 million to $525.6 million.

“Five years ago, a hospital could get built out for like $750 a square foot,” Nordell said. “Now it's up to like $1,200 a square foot. And it’s mainly material equipment that's been going up. Labor is definitely higher than it was, but it's not gone up to the extent that material and equipment costs have gone up these last five years.”

He cited, for example, a job his team did in 2016 for about $12 million.

“If you looked at that today, it might be worth $22 million,” he said.

Universities cope

Nonetheless, Iowa’s universities are forging ahead with a growing list of projects, thanks increasingly to philanthropic support and the prospect of cutting deferred maintenance costs with razed or refurbished facilities.

That approach includes another $216 million worth of renovations, expansions, and new structures the University of Iowa will seek regent approval on this week.

And while bid results show many of the university’s small- to mid-sized work goes to local companies, some of its larger projects bring in firms from out of state — including a $1 billion-plus new inpatient tower planned for UI Health Care’s main campus.

Shortlisted firms for that project include companies from Wisconsin, Colorado, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota and Cedar Rapids.

“Not really anyone local gets those,” Nordell said of the bigger projects. “They’ve been kind of giving them to the bigger out-of-state-type guy.”

Project details

Although cranes might decorate the skyline across Iowa’s universities this summer, officials hope to debut some finished products once a majority of students return to campus in the fall.

Iowa State, for example, is remodeling the second and third floors of its Memorial Union — modernizing a student lounge to include group collaboration areas with wall monitors, a larger event space for lectures, and other areas for eating and studying.

It’s also replacing its union pool and fountain with four new limestone sculptures, being carved this summer in Vermont, scheduled to arrive on campus the first week of August.

“Assisted by a crane, art conservator Francis Miller and his team will set the sculptures and the terra cotta panels between them,” according to an ISU update on summer construction. “A decision about when to begin using the fountain — this fall or next spring — will be made after fall semester begins.”

The University of Northern Iowa’s bigger projects include a $15 million renovation and expansion of its Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. The project, being funded through a capital campaign, will upgrade the facility’s interior and exterior, improve its seating, and add about 14,000 square feet of new and renovated space.

UI projects in the works this summer include:

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com