A new campus, science buildings and... a farm? What this Boise-area college is planning

Students who may not be able to attend a traditional four-year university may have more of an incentive to attend the College of Western Idaho in the years to come.

The two-year community college plans a 10-acre campus in Boise’s West End neighborhood for its over 7,000 students who attend classes in leased buildings in Boise. That campus would include retail, food, apartments and a hotel.

Even sooner, CWI is already starting site work on a separate, $90 million expansion to its northeast Nampa campus.

The expansions aim to address an ever-growing student body that has outgrown a campus spread among several buildings throughout Nampa and Boise. Enrollment at the school grew 3.8% between the 2022 and 2023 fall terms to over 30,000 students, according to Ashley Smith, spokesperson for CWI.

The college received nearly $31 million from the Idaho Legislature for the Nampa expansion, and the rest of the money will come from campus development funds and donors, Smith said. Tuition would not be increased to pay for the work, he said. CWI’s $139-per-hour tuition is a fraction of the tuition charged by Idaho’s public universities..

CWI plans to build a 50,000-square-foot Health and Science Building along with a 35,000-square-foot Student Learning Hub, according to a news release. The college also plans to add 40 acres and 38,000 square feet of building and lab space for its horticulture and agricultural science programs.

“CWI’s expansion projects are more than just an addition of buildings — it’s a bold step towards enhancing our educational offerings, and our community’s access to cutting-edge resources,” said Gordon Jones, CWI president, in the release.

The biggest expansion would be for the college’s horticulture and agricultural sciences programs — including the addition of two academic buildings, two greenhouses, a barn and working farm, experimental labs, classrooms, student group and common areas.

The Horticulture and Agricultural Science Building would be north of the Nampa Campus Academic Building and along Cherry Lane, where the college has already started extending utilities and preliminary earth work. CWI estimates construction would finish in summer 2025 and would include programming for landscape design, a meat and animal science lab, floral lab and a retail area.

The Health and Science Building would consolidate health and science programs and provide space for programs including microbiology, biology, dental assisting, surgical technology and nursing.

The building would be built west of the Nampa Campus Academic Building at 5500 E. Opportunity Drive, near the intersection of Cherry Lane and Idaho Center Boulevard. It would be a “key component of a future quad,” the release said.

The Student Learning Hub, adjacent to the Health and Science Building and also west of the Nampa Campus Academic Building, would host tutoring, a library, bookstore and “one stop student services,” the release said.

The college is now working on floor plans and design, with construction expected to start in fall 2025 and finish in fall 2026.

The college partnered with Montana-based design firm Cushing Terrell and Meridian-based construction firm Engineered Structures Inc., or ESI.

“The new buildings will not only enrich our campus but will also equip our students and faculty (with) the tools they need to succeed in an ever-evolving world,” said Molly Lenty, chair of the CWI board of trustees, in the release.

Boise campus being designed now

The timeline for college’s Nampa expansion is much in line with its plans for its 10-acre Boise campus at 3150 W. Main St., which could open for classes in the fall of 2026, Smith previously told the Idaho Statesman.

The college entered into a partnership with Meridian-based real estate developer Ball Ventures Ahlquist to build a campus that would also include 200 units of apartments, a hotel, retail stores and a parking garage.

That project is estimated to cost over $250 million and could break ground later this year, according to prior Statesman reporting. Most of the funding for the project would come from revenue generated from the commercial developments rather than taxpayers.

Plans call for condensing the college’s Boise operations into an eight-story office building on the northwest corner of Main Street and Whitewater Park Boulevard. The building would include nearly 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

The second through fourth floors would offer 60,000 square feet of student space and classrooms while floors five through eight would have 80,000 square feet for future tenants, according to Smith.

The Boise campus was scheduled to go before Boise’s Design Review Commission on Wednesday, but Ball Ventures Ahlquist asked to defer its presentation until May 8 to finish working on design updates.

Business and Local News Editor David Staats contributed.

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