EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to correct the amount of money CU needs to complete its aerospace building. The university needs $77 million for that project.

The University of Colorado will seek approval for nearly $300 million in construction and renovation projects for the Boulder campus during a Thursday Board of Regents meeting.

The seven projects include asking for $96.7 million for a new dorm in Williams Village; a $77 million request to complete an Aerospace Engineering Sciences building; and a $75 million appeal for a comprehensive renovation to the Hellems Arts and Sciences building and the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre.

“The condition of the building and outdoor theater have deteriorated with heavy utilization by the campus,” read CU documents from the board meeting agenda, referring to the Hellems Arts and Sciences building.

If Hellems’ walls could talk, they’d have 100 years of CU history to share, with the east and west wing having been around for 80 years, too. During the 2016-2017 school year, 56 percent of entering freshman took at least one class in Hellems — a building included on the National Register of Historic Places and that CU documents refer to as “arguably among the most important historic structures in the state of Colorado.”

The renovation hopes to upgrade Hellems to “present-day building and life-safety codes.” Cooling is expected to be installed. Americans with Disabilities Act standards and safety functions will be addressed for the Mary Rippon theater.

The project outlines a reorganization of the rooms into public classrooms and semi-private office suites, with space for many graduate student components. A state and university partnership is proposed to fund $42.3 million in campus cash for the project and $31.8 million is sought in state capital construction funds.

“This will be really important for us,” said Steven Leigh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Our buildings are gorgeous, and they really should be treated well.”

While the Hellems remodel is a new campus initiative, existing and years-old projects needing more money to forge on are in the running for approval, too.

Last year, the Williams Village East dorm was estimated at $60 million with accommodations for about 550 freshmen. Now, the project is creeping closer to $100 million with 700 beds and recreational and social spaces. The dorm is slated to be ready by August 2019.

“The overall project is intended to provide a facility that will allow the development of a strong sense of community; to create the highest and best use of the site; to create synergy with the entire property and to be sensitive to planned future growth,” read CU documents.

In 2012, construction plans for a $46 million aerospace building were stalled after sitting idle for three years awaiting state funding.

CU was granted $5.5 million in the 2016-2017 fiscal year for the design phase of the project, which is underway. The building phase of the project now requires about about $77 million dollars for a total of $82.5 million if construction proceeds this September.

“The campus feels strongly about proceeding with the project in the current fiscal year in order to avoid inflation in out years,” read CU documents. “The supplemental financial support for the project is being derived from non-state campus funds.”

The aerospace facility, which has a planned occupancy of August 2019, is expected to be highly technical with research labs and spaces that foster creative, collaborative interactions for faculty and students.

“Unique to the state of Colorado, the facility will draw use by industry partners, other universities and national laboratories for the design, construction and testing of small satellites, instruments and human spaceflight experiments,” according to CU documents.

Other projects include about a $10 million request to finish the final wing of the Biotechnology Building; $4 million to replace the Stadium Bridge between 17th Street and Folsom Street that was destroyed in the 2013 floods; $24.7 million needed to complete renovations in the Guggenheim Geography Building; and nearly $10 million additional funds to finish the Center for Academic Success and Engagement, built atop the Euclid Avenue Autopark.

Justification for the additional $10 million includes: “a very competitive labor market;” “a constrained building site;” “unplanned delay;” and “complexities of a vertical expansion project that were not evident during programming.” The supplementary funds would be provided from non-state campus cash funds. If the funds are granted during the Thursday meeting in Colorado Springs, completion of the building — intended to serve as an admissions welcome center — should be done by August 2018.

Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-473-1106, hernandeze@dailycamera.com