Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

ISU Breaks Ground on New Alumni Center

  • By Matt Jones
  • 07/15/21

Officials gathered last week on the campus of Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, to break ground on a new alumni center. Representatives of the university and the Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU), a donor for the project, met on July 8 to mark the first step of construction of the ICCU Bengal Alumni Center. The building will be the first addition to the campus in 20 years.

ISU President Kevin Satterlee spoke before the ceremony about the need for an on-campus gathering space for students and alumni alike. “This center means more than all of those parts and those pieces when they come together, because this center means we are again demonstrating to our community that we are investing in the future of this university,” he said.

The new facility measures in at 26,281 square feet, and it has been in the planning stages for more than 20 years. The project has remained in limbo for so long because of its price tag: $11.5 million. Alumni and donors worked for years to raise the private funds. In 2017, late alumnus Jack R. Wheatley jump-started the project with a $2 million contribution. Officials have raised another $6 million since then, including $1.5 million from the Idaho Central Credit Union.

The facility will also serve as an events center, contain meeting and board rooms, and feature displays honoring alumni. Construction is scheduled for completion by spring 2023.

“Today, this event marks the first official groundbreaking ceremony for a new building on this campus in more than a decade,” said Satterlee. “This Idaho State University alumni center will serve as the new hub on this campus where we will greet Bengali on their return home, provide a meeting place for our alumni and host our community to bring them to events and events on our campus. It will serve as the home for many key operations and will be a welcome new place for all new Bengali to join our family. That means this facility for the future of Idaho State University.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey

    Spaces4Learning recently launched the 2026 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey, which collects data on the previous year’s K–12 and higher education construction projects nationwide.

  • University of Rochester to Break Ground on New Student Life Center

    The University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., recently began construction on a new Student Life building, according to a news release. The first floor will contain campus-wide gathering, program, and rehearsal space; the second floor will play home to the Greenbaum Center for Jewish Life.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.

  • Lawrence Group Announces Three New Hires

    Integrated planning and design firm Lawrence Group, based in St. Louis, Mo., recently welcomed three new staff members, according to a news release.