The students are gone on winter break, but Oregon State University hasn’t exactly been quiet. Though the campus seems empty, heavy equipment has been growling steadily behind chain-link fence perimeters.

OSU is in the midst of its greatest construction boom since the 1970s, with nearly $180 million in major projects currently under way or in design, according to university representatives.

“In the last three years, there has been a substantial increase in construction projects compared to other eras,” said Patty McIntosh, campus planning manager.

Most of those are building improvements, such as the new equestrian arena and horse treadmill for Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital. But the university also is planning its most expensive new academic building ever in the $62.5 million Linus Pauling Center, which should be under construction about a year from now.

“It appears we’re going to get nothing but busier. … We don’t see an end to this,” said John Gremmels, an OSU project manager.

He added that much of the Campaign for OSU will go toward building. The university’s first-ever campuswide fundraiser aims to collect $625 million, with $126 million earmarked for facilities and equipment.

McIntosh said the construction activity is encouraging but was careful not to call this a building boom. “We’re seeing a lot of renovations,” she said.

And compared to the 1950s and the 1920s, this isn’t quite so big a deal historically, McIntosh added.

The 1950s saw 44 new buildings erected on campus. It was the most intense period of development ever at OSU as enrollment swelled with World War II veterans taking advantage of the GI Bill.

The 1960s and ’70s also saw substantial construction at OSU, but things slowed down between 1980 and 2000.

OSU now has 322 buildings on campus, from sheds to the oft-photographed Memorial Union.

The current spate of construction, McIntosh said, started with the Kelley Engineering Center, the parking garage across from Gill Coliseum, and renovations of Reser Stadium and Weatherford Hall.

“It took a long time to get everything in a row, the financing, the lobbying. It’s a lot of work, and we are seeing the fruits of that work,” she said.

By KYLE ODEGARD, Corvallis Gazette-Times