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Founded in 1965 as a small commuter branch of the Colorado University system, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) is now one of the fastest-growing CU satellite campuses. And with its steady growth, UCCS has had a major impact on the Colorado Springs community. With more than 12,000 students enrolled today, UCCS continues to evolve, having expanded from its original campus along Austin Bluffs to a lively western campus along North Nevada.
We look at our history with UCCS and are privileged to have enjoyed a strong relationship with them, helping support their mission to continue serving their students based in Colorado Springs and beyond.
SHARING A HISTORY OF FIRSTS
Dwire Hall, the first new academic building on the original UCCS campus, was built in 1972. Home to the College of Business, Dwire was our first project on the campus and, according to Ray Nunn, a major catalyst to us performing more higher education work throughout Colorado.
Ray also noted the profound impact UCCS has had on Colorado Springs and its businesses: “When we first moved to Colorado Springs, UCCS was primarily a school the median age for students was over 30,” he recalled. “Now, it has many recent high school graduates attending, and the student enrollment has grown considerably. UCCS has allowed Colorado Springs to recruit new businesses with higher paying jobs and improvement to the overall economy.”
In 2007, Nunn was chosen to complete Dwire Hall’s interior demolition of the existing 59,000-square-foot, four-story building, in addition to completely rebuilding all interiors complete with new mechanical and electrical systems. The renovation also included adding 22,000 square feet of office/classroom new addition space and atrium. To successfully complete this project, we relied upon our superintendent Carl Wohlfert’s expertise for working on Dwire’s complex structural system.
We later returned to the campus in 2014 to complete the five-story, LEED Certified Gold Academic Office Building, both Nunn’s and UCCS’ first project delivered through the design-build delivery method. Through integrated design and construction planning, we completed the Academic Office Building with architect Hord Coplan Macht on a tight building site less than 15 feet away from a concurrent road construction project.
The Academic Office Building was also one of the first design-build projects through the State of Colorado, which had recently adopted the form of delivery.
CONTINUED CONNECTION TO THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
Our history with the UCCS College of Business recently came full circle in 2022, when UCCS awarded Ray the 2022 UCCS College of Business Lifetime Entrepreneurship Award.
“His contributions can be felt across campus with his tireless efforts to support our programs, students and community,” said Karen Markel, former Dean of the UCCS College of Business, in Communique.
For Ray, he considers the award recognition of Nunn Construction’s success, which involved him and wife Nancy taking risks and investing many long hours together to achieve.
“Being the recipient of this award was an honor to me to have other businesses and people to recognize the success of Nunn Construction, which has been the biggest part of my work career and allowed me to be recognized and serve on other community boards,” said Ray.
“It’s like Nancy said: ‘Ray, you did it!’ Which is important to hear from my family.”
EXPANDING SERVICES TO SERVE FUTURE STUDENTS
Last year, UCCS announced their pre-collegiate program for first-generation and military dependent students was opening an office in Pueblo. The new office expanded their outreach so students from Pueblo no longer had to commute to the Springs to attend the program’s workshops.
“We are serving Pueblo students here at UCCS in the Colorado Springs program, so we are looking to make it a little more localized,” Dr. Lisa Fetman, Pueblo Program Manager of the Pre-Collegiate Support and Success Center, told KRDO. “My goal is to actually create partnerships and work with the community.”
We applaud UCCS for how the university structures itself to serve students and their academic success, striving to meet them wherever they are in their lives, and providing them with the resources to consider their next steps. Their dedication to education is making a resounding impact throughout Colorado.
