COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — Just months after Intel Corp. announced it would delay the opening of its Colorado Spring site, the company is mulling whether to expand the facility.

Intel recently obtained a one-year option to buy 312 acres of land near the manufacturing plant the company is refitting in Rockwell, according to a published report in the Denver Post. The company has not yet completed a review of the property and has not yet decided if it will go through with the deal, a spokesperson told the newspaper.

“It’s very strategic for us to evaluate this and make a decision at some future date,” Chuck Mulloy told the Post.

Intel officials pushed back the scheduled opening of its $1.2 billion Colorado Springs plant from November, 2000 to sometime early this year because the company was unable to complete a 120,000 square foot cleanroom facility on schedule due to lack of skilled electric workers and pipefitters.

The building was built in 1996 by Rockwell International Corp. and acquired by Intel in February.

The spokesman would not comment on what Intel will do with the parcel if it is purchased.

–Jeff VanPelt