Center for the Arts construction begins

Greetings from Valley City State University!

The vision came years ago, and then came the funding from the legislature with the governor’s approval. Next was the design process, and then the redesigning and value engineering. Now we’re entering the home stretch, as the construction process for our new Center for the Arts begins in earnest.

Construction fencing is being installed, and the pace of activity on the site just west of the Student Center will pick up very soon. While ground preparation began last summer and ran into the fall, mobilization of equipment and the construction process will start in the first two weeks of June.

In addition to creating an outstanding educational facility for our students and the community, we are also planning for beautiful landscaping to enhance this wonderful addition to our campus. At $32 million, the Center for the Arts represents the largest and most significant investment made in VCSU in decades.

Construction bids on the Center for the Arts are being let in two distinct packages. Package No. 1 — about two-thirds of the project budget — includes excavation, final site preparation, footings, pilings, cement, structural steel, exterior building skin, and electrical and mechanical systems. This is the work that will be seen in progress in the next few weeks.

Construction package No. 2, the remaining third, will address the interior work, wall systems, sheetrock, acoustical treatments, casework, flooring, painting and finish work. Bids for package No. 2 will be let in mid-June.

Projects of this magnitude start with an idea, a seed planted to address current and future campus needs. Leadership in the form of VCSU faculty, staff and students has brought this project along through the years. I’d like to thank all of those who have worked, often behind the scenes, for many years to help bring us to this exciting moment of construction.

The university’s future prospects are bright, and the new Center for the Arts will provide a special place for discovery, creativity, and performance for generations of students in the years to come!

We’ll share plans for a virtual groundbreaking ceremony as they develop; in the meantime, keep an eye on the building progress.

Go Vikings!