Boise State’s next decade of growth is starting to take shape.
Signed by the State Board of Education on April 15, Boise State’s new 10-Year Master Plan signals a shift in how the university is approaching long-term growth.
By prioritizing a shorter, more practical timeline than the decades-long scope of its 2015 plan, university officials say the updated framework allows for more realistic planning and closer alignment with budget constraints and strategic priorities.
“In a 30 year window, you start shifting directions — majorly or subtly — almost immediately,” Drew Alexander, associate vice president of campus operations, said. “We found that to be the case with the 2015 plan, and that was one of the drivers to condense the timeline to 10 years. That confidence level goes way up when the timeline is a little bit shorter.”
One of the biggest points of contention in the 2015 plan centered on concerns held by residents living between University Drive and Boise Avenue. The proposal suggested academic buildings, parking structures and campus spaces extending into those neighborhoods — a vision Alexander describes as “understandably difficult to digest” for nearby homeowners.
The new plan pivots away from these proposals, creating a subcommittee made up of board members and members of the Southeast Neighborhood Association to join in on the conversation.
“That was a valuable lesson learned,” he said. “We decided to focus on the campus that we have and increase transparency and collaboration with community partners, neighborhood associations and neighbors instead of creating a vision for an area that really means a lot to them.”
Instead of mapping out exact construction plans decades in advance, the university is now using a “land use” approach. This framework outlines how different areas of campus could be used without locking in specific projects to specific areas.
The goal is to give both the university and the surrounding community a clearer sense of what to expect, all while leaving room for plans to evolve.
“Through a land use approach, you give some predictability to the community of what to expect in those areas, whether that’s an administrative building, an athletic venue or another academic or research space,” Alexander said. “It gives that guidance and framework for the university and the community to have anticipation of what we may do in those spaces without us being so hyper prescriptive like we were in 2015.”
The Master Plan is divided into two parts — the Capital Improvement Plan and Concepts for Consideration.
The Capital Improvement Plan outlines projects the university sees as achievable within the next decade, including facility upgrades, infrastructure improvements and other smaller-scale construction efforts.
Concepts for Consideration, by contrast, are longer-term ideas without a set timeline. As Alexander describes them, they are projects that remain “on the shelf,” to be pursued if resources allow.
“If you analyze all of these projects, there’s really only one major capital project that we’re working on in this 10 year timeline, and that’s our new science research building,” Alexander said. “The rest are things we feel confident that we can make headway on, either renewals of buildings, maintenance of buildings or much smaller scope projects.”
For students, that means the most visible changes over the next year will come through renovations and upgrades to existing spaces rather than entirely new construction projects.
By the end of 2026, several projects outlined in the Capital Improvement Plan are expected to take shape across campus.
For academic buildings, the ESI Construction Management Building is projected to be completed. An additional research lab space will be built out on the third floor of the Micron Center for Materials Research and Riverfront Hall is set to undergo a renovation and refresh.
Athletics facilities will also see updates, with the North End Zone expansion expected to be finished in 2026, likely before the start of football season.
Infrastructure improvements are also underway, including renovations to Capital Village 4, also known as the Junction, and the construction of a detached sidewalk along Beacon Street to improve pedestrian safety.
The plan also includes studies accounting for the university’s future growth. Over the next decade, the university projects a need for over 750 additional student beds and more than 370 new parking spaces.
While all potential housing and parking projects are currently listed as Concepts for Consideration, Alexander says those needs are likely going to drive ongoing conversations about what to prioritize when time and resources allow.
“I think there will be a lot of dialogue around the housing component,” Alexander said. “The plan has at least three concepts of where we could start with that, but if the university and its leadership determine that we want to continue doing more in the housing space, this equips them with the framework to move additional housing initiatives on campus forward.”
A few notable Concepts for Consideration include improvements to the Intramural Field, a second phase of Sawtooth Hall, redevelopment of the sites Chaffee and University Manor sit on and the demolition of Towers Hall.
“From a community standpoint, [Towers] is somewhat isolated from other housing communities and dining,” Alexander said. “If we were to move forward with another project that bolstered our bed count, it would be [a building] we could potentially demolish to make way for something else in that space. Whether it stays or whether it is demolished is very much determined and guided by those more global student housing position decisions we would have to make.”
The 10-Year Master Plan is available for review on Boise State’s website, and students can provide feedback by emailing campusoperations@boisestate.edu.
