Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Oregon State to Add Arts and Education Complex

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 02/04/21

Oregon State University in Corvallis will be getting a new Arts and Education facility. The university's board of trustees recently approved construction of the $70 million complex, which will host performing arts classes, programs and performances on the campus in a 500-seat concert hall.

The 49,000-square-foot complex will include classrooms, offices, performance theaters and rehearsal rooms. It's expected to open during the 2022-2023 academic year. Discussions for the new building started in 2017; at that time, the cost was set at $60 million.

Oregon State to Add Arts and Education Complex

“This nationally best-in-class arts and education complex will be a transformative addition to Oregon State University, the Willamette Valley and all of Oregon,” said university President, F. King Alexander, in a statement. “The complex will serve as a center of creativity and will fuse programs in music, theater, visual and digital arts and technology."

Funding for the complex came from a $25 million anonymous gift, $10 million in other donations and $35 million in state bonds.

The board also approved renovations to two buildings: $16.35 million for Fairbanks Hall, the second oldest building on the Corvallis campus, whose 26,000-square-foot wood structure includes classrooms, offices and gallery space serving the College of Liberal Arts; and $6 million for Graf Hall, where the College of Engineering’s robotics program is situated.

The institution said the Fairbanks Hall work was intended to improve teaching, learning and gallery spaces and update seismic, access and HVAC systems to meet current code requirements. The Graf Hall renovation will expand the facilities for the Collaborative Robotics and Intelligent Systems Institute and upgrade bathrooms, as well as plumbing, mechanical and electrical systems.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • T&T Construction Management Group Completes Pasco High School Expansion

    Pasco High School in Dade City, Fla., recently announced that it has completed an expansion project in partnership with T&T Construction Management Group, Inc., Harvard Jolly Architecture, and Williams Company.

  • Preparing for the Next Era of Healthcare Education, Innovation

    Across the country, public universities and community colleges are accelerating investments in healthcare education facilities as part of a broader strategy to address workforce shortages, modernize outdated infrastructure, and expand clinical training capacity. These projects, which are often located at the center of campus health and science districts, are no longer limited to traditional classrooms.

  • Different Starting Points, Same End Goal

    Higher education campuses can enhance student experience by implementing mobile credentials to streamline building access, on-campus payments, and access to other amenities. This enables students to connect to their campuses through the technology they use most: their mobile devices.

  • Photo credit: Elkus Manfredi Architects

    University of Virginia Selects Design-Build Team for New Residential Complex

    The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., recently announced that it has selected a design-build team for a new upper-class residential development on campus, according to a news release. Capstone Development Partners—in partnership with Elkus Manfredi Architects and the Hoar Construction/Hourigan construction team—will move forward with the three-building, 310,000-square-foot housing facility.