Wichita State has awarded a $10.4 million contract to Hutton Construction to build a new Student-Athlete Success Center on campus and renovate administrative offices in Charles Koch Arena. Hutton Construction was founded by Mark Hutton, a member of the Kansas Board of Regents. His son, Ben Hutton, is the company’s CEO.

Groundbreaking on the two-story, 36,000-square-foot Student-Athlete Success Center is expected to take place in June, with an estimated completion date of July 2020, according to a university release. The facility, which will be located just south of Koch Arena, will be “devoted to the academic and athletic development of students in WSU’s sports programs.”

The project is funded entirely through private donations raised by WSU Athletics and the WSU Foundation. Hutton Construction got the nod over five other companies that presented proposals for the project last month, the release said.

Mark Hutton, who was appointed to the board of regents in 2018 by then-Gov. Jeff Colyer, founded Hutton Construction in 1992. His son took over as president in 2010 and became CEO in 2016. Mark Hutton retains the title CEO emeritus and is a 7% owner of the company, according to a statement of substantial interest filed with the secretary of state’s office when he was appointed to the board of regents.

This is Hutton Construction’s first job at WSU. The company recently renovated and made a large-scale addition to Koch Industries.

Before his appointment to the board, Hutton served as a Republican member of the Kansas House of Representatives from 2013-2017.