Folsom Field project timeline December 2013: Project is approved at $142 million August 2014: Campus gets regent approval for extra $13 million. Project now budgeted at $156 million September 2015: Campus gets regent approval for extra $4.7 million. Project now budgeted at $160 million February 2016: Campus gets regent approval for extra $6.3 million. Project now finalized at $166 million.

COLORADO SPRINGS — The University of Colorado’s stadium expansion project is now $24 million over budget, forcing Boulder campus officials to seek additional spending authority for the third time in 18 months.

This time, CU budget officials are asking for an additional $6.3 million to complete the Folsom Field project.

The project, which includes an expansion of the Dal Ward Athletic Center, construction of an indoor practice facility and an addition to the stadium’s northeast corner, was initially approved in late 2013 at $142 million.

The cost went up in August 2014 by $13 million to $156 million.

The campus came back to the regents last fall to ask for an extra $4.7 million, which brought the total project cost to $160 million.

On Friday, campus officials made what they believe to be their final request for extra spending authority on the expansion, which came in $24 million over budget at $166 million.

The regents approved the spending request 8-0 with minimal discussion.

Regent Steve Ludwig, a Democrat with an at-large seat, said he felt he had no choice but to vote for the additional spending authority, but wasn’t happy about it.

“I know and I appreciate all the work the campus has done in making sure this doesn’t happen again, but $24 million is a lot money,” Ludwig said. “It really makes me sick.”

In addition to the regents’ approval, the campus also must go back before the Legislature’s Capital Development Committee to seek approval for the amount above a 15 percent overrun, or $2.67 million.

Bonds and fundraising

The campus financed the expansion by selling about $150 million in bonds. The athletic department is responsible for the project’s cost and will make bond payments using donations and other revenue streams.

Chancellor Phil DiStefano said the athletic department expects to announce soon that it has raised between $85 million and $95 million for the project, though those numbers aren’t final.

Through the end of November 2015, when the most recent fundraising update was posted online, the athletic department said it had raised $60 million for the project.

CU officials said the cost overruns resulted from a number of factors, including a short timeline for completion due to athletic schedules, weather issues and high turnover of CU and contractor staff.

“(The project) had a fast-tracked nature,” said Kelly Fox, chief financial officer on the Boulder campus. “We really probably should’ve taken a step back and said ‘We could use some outside help managing this project.'”

The campus also faced higher-than-expected costs for subcontracting, specialized labor and materials as the construction market began to heat up. The project turned out to be more complicated than it appeared during the planning process, Fox told the board.

New procedures in place

The campus also found weaknesses in its project negotiation and management process and paid consulting group McKinsey & Company $700,000 last fall to help improve its operations.

To address some of those issues, Fox told the board that the campus instituted project management training in January and created a contract management toolkit in December.

CU is hiring a new vice chancellor for infrastructure and safety and is instituting a “stage gate” construction process based on the consulting group’s recommendation.

“You will see us spending more time on the front end defining our capital projects in the future,” Fox said. “We’ll spend a little bit more money up front to really understand the scope, the design needs and nailing that down before we bring that to you for approval. Throughout the process, then, there will be other checks that were not in place.”

The campus is developing a contracting protocol and implementing a set of reporting guidelines to improve transparency around cost, timing and other factors.

The stadium expansion isn’t the only project giving CU headaches.

The campus added $2.5 million to the renovation budget for a Boulder research facility it purchased for $7.5 million in 2014. The renovation budget is now $12.9 million.

Campus officials also have delayed their plans to build the Center for Academic Success and Excellence on top of the existing Euclid Autopark structure, which was initially approved at $43 million.

Budget officials asked for an extra $5.5 million for that project in September, but haven’t been given final approval.

Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta