An eventual renovation of the Nelson Performing Arts building has come into more focus, as the Northwest College board got a glimpse last month of what possible renovations could look like — and the costs.

The cheapest renovation option starts at $56.8 million for a renovation that keeps the existing auditorium — a budget that’s well over double the cost of the new student center — and rises to $75.5 million for a completely new facility. 

“I don’t feel discouraged by it,” NWC President Lisa Watson said of the potential costs, “but I feel like there’s a lot of strategy and a lot of effort that is going to be needed to move the project forward …”

She noted that there’s also “a lot to the project.”

“There’s just all this extra cost, plus stuff that we’ve got in mind, to make it be the building it deserves to be. And that’s the difference,” Watson told the board at their Oct. 13 meeting. “I mean, look at the visual performing arts buildings around the state, and I am pretty sure that we probably are not at the top of the list, and probably hold a very bottom line when it comes to the space. So we really do want to provide good and new space for our students.”

Now that the student center project is in the rearview mirror, the Nelson Performing Arts building is squarely in sight as the college’s next major project.

A Level I study was completed in 2017 and identified the site of the current building as suitable for either expansion or complete replacement.

According to a presentation on the new Level 2 design plans — prepared by Chris Wineman, principal at Semple Brown Design, P.C. in Denver, and Taylor Lee, president of Plan One Architects in Cody — revamping the Nelson building would address a number of needs.

They include: 

• Long-standing accreditation issues for NWC’s music and visual art programs;

• Significant deferred maintenance;

• Allowing the music and fine art programs, which are structured as a single department, to work in the same building; and

• Freeing up space in the Cabre Gym that is currently occupied by the visual arts program for athletics.

The Level II study evaluated three options: 

1. Replacement with an entirely new facility with an estimated cost of $75.55 million in 2028 dollars. 

2. Expansion with a new replacement auditorium at $66.77 million in 2028 dollars. 

3. Expansion that renovates the existing auditorium at $56.83 million in 2028 dollars. 

The totals include not just project costs but also design fees, furniture, fixtures and equipment (FFE), contractor fees and contingencies. 

Consultants also mentioned a fourth option at just under $58 million that provides a few more features than the base option, including the possibility of lifting the roof of the auditorium to provide better acoustics.

“The renovation would be an opportunity to … make the space more appropriate for your larger music ensembles and for amplified events, but you can improve the sight lines and the quality of being in the space significantly,” Wineman said, adding, “We can bring the building into much more kind of cohesive appearance with the rest of the campus, update the appearance, take advantage of the structural bones that are there, but really bring it into a new century of service to the college.”

Watson said design work would continue onto phase three, which will go into even more detail, while efforts to gather some of the money needed are already starting — there’s been talk amongst the NWC Foundation Board on how to move forward with fundraising.