Bids to be let next year for new health science facility

The bid process is expected to start between January and February next year for the new health science facility at Sheridan College.

The state-of-the-art facility is planned to be added to the Sheridan College campus over the next three years to serve the college’s nursing, dental hygiene and health sciences programs.

Trustees of the Northern Wyoming Community College District last month approved naming the overall facility the B. F. and Rose H. Perkins Health Science Center, while the dental clinic was named the Kim and Mary K. Love Dental Hygiene Clinic.

College District President Dr. Walt Tribley at this week’s board meeting said there is some confusion about where those names will be on the buildings.

The Perkins Foundation donated $1.9 million to help finance the project. And Kim and Mary Kay Love contributed $700,000, the largest private donation made to the clinic.

Total cost of the project is just over $12 million, of which half will be funded by the state. The other half is a combination of donations by private individuals and foundations as well as the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

The building will include 23,500 square feet of new construction and a 7,100 square foot renovation of the existing space, which is a wing of the original Whitney Building constructed in 1958. Fundraising is nearly complete, according to a news release from Sheridan College.

Dr. Tribley said the new facility is absolutely a pressing need for the college’s health science programs.

According to the timeline for the project, the new facility will be built in phases starting in March next year with renovation of the existing dental hygiene wing. New construction on the Perkins Health Science Center is scheduled to start in January 2022.

Dental hygiene students will start the spring 2022 semester in the new clinic, and the Health Science Center is expected to be completed in March 2023.