SALT LAKE CITY — Thanks to a $4 million gift from the Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles Family Foundation, the University of Utah Alumni Association is well on its way to realizing a much-anticipated transformation of its 36-year-old Alumni House into a more spacious, multifunctional facility.
The renovation will nearly double the size of the building and triple its current capacity to serve the university community and its alumni locally and worldwide.
“With this gift, we have now raised more than $8.1 million toward our $10 million goal, and we’re excited to reach out and involve our wider alumni constituency to help us cross the finish line of this campaign,” Michele Mattsson, chairwoman of the U. board of trustees, said in a statement.
When completed in fall 2017, the state-of-the-art facility will be named by the university in honor and memory of Cleone Peterson Eccles, an active U. alumna, benefactor and volunteer leader. Eccles, who died of cancer in 2013, was a former vice president of the Alumni Association and a 10-year member of the university’s board of trustees. She also served her alma mater actively for many years on the boards of KUED, the College of Nursing and Red Butte Garden.
“We greatly appreciate the far-reaching support of this amazing family, whose generosity to their alma mater extends throughout the U.,” David W. Pershing, U. president, said in a statement. “Their support is enabling us to create the Alumni House of the future — one that will generate excitement and fulfill the needs of the university as a proud member of the Pac-12.”
The renovation will add nearly 17,000 square feet to the alumni headquarters located in the heart of the campus. Work is expected to begin during summer and the facility should reopen in the fall of 2017.