COUPEVILLE — Seattle Pacific University officials announced plans Thursday to build more than 40 new buildings at Camp Casey, including an education center and a sewage treatment plant on the historic property.

University officials did not say how much it would cost to complete the ambitious plan or provide a detailed timeline of when construction would take place.

Representatives of Seattle Pacific University said more development was needed at the camp — an iconic link to Whidbey’s post-pioneer past — so it could become financially self-supporting. The university bought the property from the federal government in 1956 and has since used it for a conference center.

Development plans for the property were announced this week as SPU presented its new master plan for the property. The university filed paperwork with Island County on Wednesday to request an amendment of Island County’s comprehensive plan and zoning codes to designate 82 acres of Camp Casey property as an “existing master planned resort.”

Rolfe Kellor of Kellor Associates, the lead consultant on the master plan, said the “resort” label was a bit misleading.

“The term resort is not something we’ve ever used internally. We don’t see this as a resort or destination. This is a conference activity,” Kellor said.

Having the property designated as an “existing master planned resort” does not mean SPU hopes to cash in by offering spa treatments and other luxuries. Instead, the university wants to continue providing space for nonprofit conferences and sport events.

Since SPU purchased the property more than 50 years ago, the university has used it as a conference center and education facility for its students and staff. The camp has also hosted sporting events, religious retreats and other non-profit organizations.

But many of the buildings were constructed in the early 20th century and are showing their age.

Repairs and renovations, however, are made more expensive by the buildings’ historic nature.

Painting a single house on the property would cost in excess of $68,000, said Don Mortenson, a business and planning vice president at SPU.

Camp Casey has an annual fund between $50,000 to $125,000 that is used for capital improvements, however.

University officials also note it costs $1.1 million a year just to keep Camp Casey open.

More development is needed because of an existing space crunch. University officials said the center needs more room for seminars and retreats, plus more housing for older adults and families.

New development is also needed, the university officials said, to help pay for improvements to the historical buildings. Raising tuition at the university is not an option, and without more revenue, the university warned it might have to sell all or most of Camp Casey.

Under the new plan, development would be completed over a 10- to 15-year time span. A total of 312 new beds would be added, which would bring sleeping capacity at the center up to 982 beds.

The master plan covers development on 82 acres of Camp Casey, which sits just north of Fort Casey, the state park that includes the historic, turn-of-the-century coastal artillery post.

Seven acres, including forestland, will be used for construction of an education center and chapel, six retreat or seminar buildings, 40 cabins, and additions to other buildings. A wastewater treatment plant and recycling plant would also be constructed.

“After approval, SPU will develop more specific, more detailed proposals and the different phases,” Kellor said.

“This is a development that would occur over a 15- to 20-year period. The first phase would logically be infrastructure improvements, utility improvements to support the new buildings. I don’t think you would see any construction on this site until the earliest, in 2010.”

All told, the development would mean 75,500 to 98,500 square feet of new building space.

By comparison, the new assisted living facility in Freeland totals almost 54,000 square feet.

According to the Camp Casey Master Plan, three of the wooded acres will be cleared for roads, parking areas and space for the buildings.

Two new buildings would also be added to the row of existing buildings just south of Fort Casey Inn, but would be designed in a Victorian style to blend in with the pre-World War I era officers’ housing on the property.

What the proposed plan will not do is develop within the protected forest area called the Washington Natural Heritage Program site or “heritage forest.”

Mortenson said that construction would not start until the university is positive that the development would bring in added revenues for Camp Casey.

“This is for zoning purposes,” Mortenson said.

“We’re not going to build the thing until we know what the cost is and whether the revenues are going to be there to support it,” he said.

It’s been nearly four years since Seattle Pacific University’s previous attempt at a master plan for Camp Casey.

The earlier plan covered 270 acres.

University officials said none of the historic buildings on the property would be demolished or significantly changed in appearance. Future development would also steer clear of Crockett Lake and the nearby beach and bluff areas. Three acres of forest would be cleared, but no large, old-growth trees would be removed.