Construction slated to begin on new Future Tech building at CEI in June
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IDAHO FALLS – After three years of planning, a new Future Tech building at College of Eastern Idaho is finally moving forward.
CEI’s Board of Trustees recently approved the construction of a two-level, 88,000-square-foot energy, innovation and technology building in an empty field on the north side of the Idaho Falls campus. Contractors are bidding on parts of the project, which could cost up to $36,407,023 in total. The money is being provided by state funds as well as donations from the private sector.
Mark Madsen, CEI’s vice president of strategic partnerships, tells EastIdahoNews.com construction is slated to begin in June and will include a variety of trade programs.
“Nursing and automotive trades have been the bread and butter of CEI even before it was a community college,” Madsen says. “Now we’re branching out into cyber security and operations management, which includes math, science, robotics, mechatronics — all those kinds of things (will be housed in this building).”
Many of these programs are held in other buildings across campus and will be relocated once the building is complete. Byron Miles, the vice president of finance and administration, says there are also several new programs that will be implemented in the tech building. A full list is available here.
In addition to classroom space, the building will have a conference center, field testing laboratories and a large gathering area for business and civic events, student group projects and bay space. Watch an animated fly-through of the building here.
Construction is estimated for completion in summer 2026 and the plan is for classes to be held that fall.
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CEI is the only educational institution in Idaho without a career and technical education building, according to its website. In a news release about the project, outgoing CEI President Rick Aman explains the campus is currently “bursting at the seams.” This new building will solve a lot of challenges with inadequate space and limited resources so CEI can provide “state-of-the-art” education for students.
“The planning team designed future tech fully around the use of this building as a teaching tool, a ‘Swiss army knife’ … a multi-tooled, multi-functional, multi-purpose facility,” Aman says in a news release.
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Anderson Construction has been selected as the general contractor for the project.
Madsen says they’re launching a community campaign in the next few weeks to continue to raise money for the building.
“We still need money — millions of dollars — for some of the equipment that goes inside. This is a specific building for future, high-tech type of learning … so there’s more money we need to raise before we can cut the ribbon and use all the space,” says Madsen.
They’re also looking for a sponsor to name the building after. To learn more or make a donation, call Madsen at (208) 970-6802 or email mark.madsen@cei.edu.