LOGAN — Utah State University has started construction on an engineering building that will almost double engineering classroom space.
"This building has been in the planning stages for I don't know how many years," said Al Moser, College of Engineering associate dean.
"It's a long overdue need that's being filled," Lt. Gov. Olene Walker said at the groundbreaking Thursday. Nearly 300 attended.
Walker said Gov. Mike Leavitt's engineering and technology initiative challenges colleges and universities in Utah to double the state's number of engineering and tech graduates over the next five years.
The plan to build a new engineering building has been on the state's capital projects list for at least the past decade, Moser said. It recently became top priority. The new building is actually an addition and retrofit to the current Peterson Engineering Building. Built in the early 1960s, the building has two parts, linked by a sky bridge walkway.
When completed in August 2003, the new part of the building alone will measure 104,260 square feet, with more than 60,000 square feet of classroom and office space. One floor will be dedicated as a student learning center with a computer lab, conference rooms and student advising.
"This is going to help not just the college of engineering, but the entire university," Moser said. Since the original engineering building was constructed, student enrollment has gone from 555 students to nearly 1,800.
The additional classrooms will also help alleviate some of the need for classroom space on campus.
"The entire building is designed as a discovery center complete with building sensors and interactive displays," said A. Bruce Bishop, dean of engineering.
The total cost of the project is $33.2 million, with most coming from state funds. The state provided $16.2 million to get the project going. Another $7 million is being held until USU can raise $10 million on its own.
According to college officials, close to $3 million of that money has been raised so far, including $1 million each from the George S. and Dore Eccles Foundation, Franklin County, Idaho, natives David and Diane Sant of Saratoga, Calif., and combined alumni and other supporters.
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