UHDS News

Over Winter Break, one of the first visible phases of a new campus construction project along Jefferson Way occurred with the removal of a row of trees along the north side of Jefferson Way between Fairbanks Hall and Sackett Hall (across from Hawley-Buxton).

The trees were removed to make way for construction of several new campus buildings, including the new hall for the College of Business named Austin Hall, and a new Asian & Pacific Cultural Center. Over the next two years, this area will be abuzz with activity to construct these two new campus centers and parking in the area will be limited at times.

 

Austin Hall

In the fall of 2014, the newest building on campus will be a home for Oregon’s future business leaders and embody the authentic character of Oregon State that inspires students and faculty. Located on Jefferson Way near the Women’s Building and across the street from Weatherford, the new home for the College of Business will be the anchor of a developing quad on campus.

Austin Hall, named to reflect the $10 million commitment from alumni Ken and Joan Austin, will be an expansive 100,000 square feet that will include ten classrooms, a 250-seat auditorium, collaborative team rooms, more than 70 faculty offices, staff and program offices, a café and event space. Ground-breaking for the estimated $50 million project is scheduled for Spring 2013.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artistic renderings: Austin Hall.

Asian & Pacific Cultural Center

In 2002, Oregon State University made a commitment to cultural centers on campus to honor diversity and enrichment of student life. At present, the APCC is inadequately housed in a small house on the corner of Northwest Jackson Avenue and Arnold Way, at the far northern edge of campus. The students of the APCC needed a larger facility able to accommodate all of their needs and activities, including areas for quiet study, dance performances, and community feasts. A location closer to the campus core was requested that better supports the APCC’s goal of educating the greater OSU community about the Asian and Pacific Islander cultures.

The new APCC will provide a learning and gathering place for Asian, Pacific Islander, Indian, and Middle Eastern students to celebrate and share their cultures and heritage. It will serve as a supportive and welcoming educational environment where knowledge and traditions can be shared among each other and with the greater OSU community. The proposed Asian & Pacific Cultural Center (APCC) will be constructed on the north side of Jefferson Way within the OSU National Historic District. Presently, this location is the southeast corner of the Women’s Building Field, a recreation field. The center is still in the design phase and a groundbreaking and completion date have not been set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artistic rendering: Asian Pacific Cultural Center.

Learn more about these projects at the following links:

• Austin Hall project
• APCC project
• OSU Campus Master Plan
• Video: Tour the changing landscape of OSU

Approved building bonds put new student center, residence hall back on track

[Corvallis Gazette-Times, March 7, 2012] — Oregon State University will receive funds to build the Student Experience Center and a residence hall, after all.

Lawmakers passed a set of bills at the end of the Legislature’s short interim session, which adjourned Monday night. They approved millions of dollars in IX-F bonds for the new student center, a remodel of the Memorial Union’s east wing and a 270-bed residence hall.

Student fees will pay back the $47.2 million student center and $9.18 million renovation. Room and board fees will cover the $29 million residence hall.

Lawmakers put the projects on hold after the end of the last legislative session in June over concerns about the state’s ability to carry additional debt. OSU President Ed Ray, students and Oregon University System officials testified on behalf of the projects in front of the Legislature’s Joint Ways and Means Committee in November.

Another OSU construction project — a classroom building — was also put on hold at the end of the last session, but the university plans to pitch the project during next year’s legislative session.

The news of the projects’ approval was great news for the university, especially for student groups involved in the student center project.

“They saw the need early on and worked to make this project come to life,” said Tiffany Perkins, an OSU senior who co-chaired the student committee that helped the project pass an initial student vote.

Students voted in May 2010 to pay $48 a term beginning last fall to pay off the bond. With funding secured, students will be charged the fee beginning spring term, and construction will begin January 2013, said Michael Henthorne, the director of the MU.

The new building will replace Snell Hall, built in 1959 as housing to accommodate the enrollment booms of the post-World War II and Korean War era. It now houses various student organizations and offices but it has numerous major structural deficits.

See the original article by Gazette-Times reporter Gail Cole.