A new 70,000-square-foot health and hospitality building is rising on the Auraria campus. The people putting it together include students.
Most college students study their field in a classroom. River Jackson, a construction project management senior at Metropolitan State University of Denver, clocks in at a real job site at 6:30 every morning — then walks to class by 11:30. The site is a 10-minute walk from his dorm. The building he's helping construct will outlast his time at MSU Denver by decades.
- 70,000 — Square Feet
- 5 — Stories
- 1,900 — New Jobs
Every morning before most students roll out of bed, River Jackson pulls on a hard hat and reports to a construction site that will one day be one of the most significant buildings on MSU Denver's campus. The Gina and Frank Day Health Institute — a five-story, 70,000-square-foot facility — will house nursing skills labs, classrooms, and a hospitality demonstration kitchen when it opens for the fall 2027 semester.
Jackson is not just watching. He spent the summer earning more responsibility, eventually taking charge of inspection scheduling and walking inspectors through the site himself. His superintendent trusted him with real stakes. 'That was a lot of fun for me, just kind of having the team trust me and being able to get the job done,' Jackson said.
Just being able to say like I was a part of this, helping build this building that's gonna be on campus for years, it's kind of a big deal,River Jackson, construction project management senior at MSU Denver
- 70,000 — Square Feet — Gina and Frank Day Health Institute
- 5 — Stories — Nursing and hospitality facility
- July — Completion Target — Building slated to finish in July
- Fall 2027 — Opening Semester — Planned launch for students and faculty
The structure of the program makes that kind of commitment possible. Program director Carolyn McGary describes a schedule built around student life: 'They can go to classes and then go work part time on campus, go back, pick up another class, come back.' For Jackson, who lives on campus, the internship site is only a 10-minute walk away — eliminating the commute barrier that keeps many students from taking on real work experience while enrolled full time.
Jackson also plays second base for MSU Denver's baseball team, and he says the competitive mindset he built on the field transfers directly to the job site. When he makes a mistake — on a real construction project with real consequences — he treats it the same way he would a bad throw: a learning moment, not a failure.
That level of trust — handed to a student who was also juggling a baseball season and a full course load — speaks to what MSU Denver's program is trying to build. It's not just construction knowledge. It's professional judgment, developed in real conditions with real consequences.
Superintendent Garrett Vidal put it plainly: 'At the beginning of the project, we gave River a bunch of tasks and kind of held his feet to the fire a little bit, and he's done a great job with that.' That combination of accountability and opportunity is the core of what the on-campus internship model offers.
What's Inside the Gina and Frank Day Health Institute?
The building rising on MSU Denver's campus is more than a construction project — it's a purpose-built facility designed to train the next generation of Colorado nurses and hospitality professionals.
At 70,000 square feet and five stories, it will include multiple nursing skills labs, general classrooms, and a hospitality demonstration kitchen on level one. The building is slated to finish construction in July 2027 and is scheduled to open to students for the fall 2027 semester.
Students in MSU Denver's nursing and hospitality programs will eventually learn inside a building that their peers in the construction project management program helped build — a full-circle moment the university says reflects its commitment to hands-on, career-ready education.
How MSU Denver's On-Campus Internship Works
- Enroll in the Construction Project Management Program — MSU Denver's CPM program is designed to integrate real job experience directly into the academic schedule — not as an add-on, but as a core component.
- Get Placed on an Active Campus Construction Site — Students like River Jackson work directly under licensed superintendents on real projects — in this case, a 70,000-square-foot, five-story building.
- Work Morning Hours, Attend Class in the Afternoon — The schedule is built around MSU Denver's class timetable. Jackson, for example, is on site from 6:30 to 11:30 AM before heading to class or baseball practice.
- Earn Real Responsibility Over Time — Interns don't just observe — they take on tasks with real consequences. Jackson moved from basic assignments to managing inspection scheduling for the entire site.
- Walk Away With a Permanent Legacy — When the Gina and Frank Day Health Institute opens in fall 2027, students like Jackson will be able to point to it and say they helped build it.
Colorado's construction sector is not slowing down. With 1,900 jobs added in September 2026 — second most in the country according to the Associated General Contractors of America — the state is producing some of the strongest construction employment numbers in the nation. McGary sees that as both validation and a recruiting pitch.
The demand is real, and it's right here in Denver. When River Jackson walks off that job site in July 2027 and the Gina and Frank Day Health Institute opens its doors to MSU Denver's nursing and hospitality students in the fall, he will carry something most college graduates don't: a building with his fingerprints on it.
Interested in MSU Denver's Construction Program?
- MSU Denver Construction Project Management Program: Program director Carolyn McGary oversees a curriculum that puts students on real job sites — including active campus construction projects — while they complete their degree.
- Gina and Frank Day Health Institute: The 70,000-square-foot, five-story nursing and hospitality facility is slated for completion in July 2027, with a planned opening for the fall 2027 semester.
- Colorado's Construction Job Market: Colorado added 1,900 construction jobs in September 2026, the second-largest single-month gain in the nation, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.