Contractors and architects around the Valley will soon compete for the chance to design and build the new home for the Del E. Webb School of Construction.
“The new school will be a way to meet the need for college-educated leaders in the construction industry,” said James Ernzen, the school’s director. “Construction-management programs around the country supply approximately 50 percent of the construction industry’s need for these educated professionals.”
The idea to build a new construction school was initially proposed by ASU President Michael Crow in 2004.
While the majority of the funds have been acquired, officials at the construction school have not yet chosen which architecture firm will design the school or which construction company will build it.
Construction on the building will start next year, with the goal of completion by fall 2010. Ernzen said the exact size and qualifications of the project will be released for the selection process in the near future.
Funding will come from both the legislature and private companies. So far, construction companies and private material supplies companies have already contributed $10 million.
The campaign to raise the private funds began soon after the state legislature approved the $20 million budget during a meeting in July.
The funds from the state were received as part of the Stimulus Plan for Economic and Education Development initiative.
Ernzen said he believes that having more space for the students will allow the school’s population to grow, which will also help to meet the demand for construction students in Arizona.
The school is currently located within the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering’s building on Mill Avenue in Tempe and has been a part of ASU for 51 years.
Though the school is officially located in the Fulton building, the classes are spread around campus.
The new school, which is scheduled to be built in the northeast corner of ASU’s Tempe campus near the new light-rail, will allow construction students to have their own building, instead of having classes spread all over campus.
That was one concern for residential construction management senior Brian Laspisa, who is also the ASU-chapter president of the National Association of Home Builders, a nationwide organization that discusses issues and policies affecting the housing industry.
“When I have a construction class that is pushed off into another building and I see a non-construction class being held in our building, it makes me think we need more room,” Laspisa said. “A bigger building and more classrooms in one spot will allow networking to happen as well.”
Residential construction senior Bradley Loeb agreed.
“It’s definitely going to be helpful for students because we can have a bigger faculty and the current faculty can have their own offices,” Loeb said. “Since construction is the second largest employment in the United States, it is worthwhile to invest in construction students.”
Reach the reporter at allison.carlin@asu.edu.
