You could make a spirited argument that the fastest-growing,
most vibrant place in Oregon in 2010 might have been the campus of
Oregon State University.

While the rest of the state’s building industry languished during
one of the worst recessions in 80 years, OSU saw a single-year
building boom unprecedented in its 142-year history.

The last similar construction boom was 100 years before, in
1909-10, when nine new buildings went up.

OSU is so proud of the $168 million worth of construction now under
way on campus that it’s even made time-lapse video of some
projects, such as the $52 million INTO-OSU Living Learning
Center.

An 11-minute video of the new center’s construction — available at
http://webcam.oregonstate

.edu/llc/ — shows its transformation from April through December
toward its final form (completion is expected in September) as a
residence hall and living center.

Located at 17th Street and Western Boulevard, it is primarily for
international students, although some U.S. students also will be
among the 350 who’ll live there.

For the Corvallis Community Development Department, the growth
spurt at OSU couldn’t have come at a better time.

Because jobs in that department are funded in part through permit
application fees, the city had to lay off employees when those
applications virtually dried up.

However, Ken Gibb, the city’s community development director, said
that in 2009 and 2010, OSU projects have resulted in nearly $2.5
million in building permit fees to Corvallis.

Gibb noted that the INTO project, for example, generated some
$550,000 in permit fees. The Linus Pauling Science Center, another
OSU construction project, generated about $800,000 in fees.

Although those fees, which are not part of the city’s general fund,
cannot be used to offset the $3 million general fund shortfall the
city is facing next year (they must be applied to the many
inspections such large projects require), Gibb noted their arrival
was timely.

“The major capital investments at OSU have been very welcome and
have helped stabilize the budget of our Development Services
Division at a time when residential construction has been very
slow. I don’t have info on employment impacts, but I am sure they
are substantial.”

Lori Fulton, an architect working with OSU Facilities Services,
noted in a July report that between 80 and 100 workers are on site
at the Linus Pauling and INTO projects alone.

Presidential goals

You’d have to go back to 1910, the school year in which nine
buildings were completed, to find another stretch of time when the
look of the campus changed as much.

The current building boom is a manifestation of President Ed Ray’s
vision of having 30,000 to 35,000 students at OSU by 2025.

Although skeptics thought that might be too ambitious, the
university has set new student enrollment records for each of the
past three years — right on track toward that goal.

OSU’s student population reached 23,761 in the fall term, primarily
from gains among racial and ethnic minority students, international
students, graduate degree seekers and out-of-state students.

The 3,853 additional Oregon undergraduates who enrolled this fall
represented the most growth of any school in the Oregon University
System.

Most of the new buildings, renovations, remodels and expansions are
being funded by private donations.

For example, $31.25 million of the $62.5 million cost of the Linus
Pauling Science Center at 30th Street and Campus Way came from
private donations.

OSU reached its Campaign for Oregon fundraising goal of $625
million in October, a year early, and has now extended the
fundraising campaign to 2013 and the goal to $850 million.

Population pressures

However, as OSU’s student population grows, Corvallis residents may
well wonder where the community will house all those extra
students. Apartment vacancy rates in Corvallis continue to be very
low, and the university currently has roughly 4,000 beds available
in its various residence halls and lodges.

But OSU’s growth has to keep pace with its capacity, which now is
at 24,500 students — a number determined by classroom size, housing
resources and the recommendations of its academic advising
professionals. So OSU’s current enrollment is about 700 students
under that capacity.

And that capacity will continue to grow as OSU plans to seek
approval from the Legislature for a new $62 million classroom
building and a new $55 million business building.

Nevertheless, Todd Simmons, a spokesman for the university, said no
new dormitories beyond the INTO project are planned in the
immediate future.