Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Johnson & Wales University Denver: Centennial Hall

  • 02/01/16
Johnson & Wales University Denver: Centennial Hall

PHOTOS on RIGHT © JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY and PHOTOS © BRAD NICOL

After more than 30 years of being shuttered and $17 million in renovations, Centennial Hall is the new heart and hub of Johnson & Wales University’s (JWU) Denver, CO, campus.

Originally named Treat Hall, the structure was built in 1886 for the Colorado Women’s College and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1982, the University of Denver acquired Colorado Women’s College due to declining enrollment, and the building sat empty for more than three decades.

In 2000, JWU purchased the campus as its most western regional anchor with the goal of one day renovating the building back to its original prominence. By 2015, the university officially “broke ground,” renaming the building Centennial Hall in honor of the university’s centennial year and to pay homage to Colorado as the “Centennial State.”

“You can’t help but be inspired by this building, not only for its beautiful features, but also for what Centennial Hall stands for,” says JWU Denver’s vice president and dean of academic affairs, Richard Wiscott, Ph.D. “It was critical to ensure the design capitalized on bringing our campus community together by creating a variety of multipurpose spaces adjacent and connected throughout the entire building.”

With 56,600 square feet of space, Centennial Hall features classrooms, administrative and faculty offices, a health and wellness clinic, student activity spaces, a grab-and-go café and a great hall for campus events.

Many of the original finishes of the 130-year-old building, including the grand staircase, have been preserved and/or repurposed to allow the building’s grandeur to shine and flourish. In 2015, Historic Denver, one of the nation’s premier urban historic preservation organizations, recognized the Centennial Hall project with a Community Preservation Award.

Centennial Hall reopened in the fall of 2015.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • College of the Desert Hits Construction Milestone on New Campus

    College of the Desert recently announced that the construction of its new Palm Springs Campus in Palm Springs, Calif., recently reached a major construction milestone, according to a news release. The college is partnering with general contractor C.W. Driver Companies, which recently “topped out” the facility by placing the final beam in its structure.

  • Stanford Completes Construction on Graduate School of Education Facility

    Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., recently announced the end of construction on a new home for its Graduate School of Education, according to a news release. The university partnered with McCarthy Building Companies on the 160,000-square-foot project, which involved two major renovations and one new construction effort.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.