BOISE - Voters in Ada and Canyon counties rejected a massive $180 million bond for the College of Western Idaho on Tuesday.
With 97 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday morning, just 57 percent of voters had approved the bond. It needed a two-thirds (66.7 percent) majority in order to pass.
The general obligation bond would have financed the construction of new facilities at both the Nampa and Boise campuses.
Planned facilities include a health science building, a student success center with a library and classrooms, and a central services building at the Canyon County campus. In Boise, CWI wants to build an academic professional center on a 600,000 square-foot campus at Main Street and Whitewater Boulevard.
School officials unveiled plans for the Boise campus back in August.
All voters in Ada and Canyon counties were tapped to vote on the bond, which needed a two-thirds majority to pass.
A number of prominent officials came out in favor of the proposal, including Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, Boise Mayor Dave Bieter and Nampa Mayor Bob Henry. The chambers of commerce in Nampa and Boise also supported the bond.