Buildings
Student enrollments have nearly doubled in the past decade, and there is an acute shortage of learning space on campus. Utah State's campus master plan goes far beyond addressing this critical need. The plan calls for new spaces that encourage the kind of interactions inside and outside the classroom that engage students in learning for the rest of their lives.
The hall itself amplifies the sound, bringing every range into perfect balance. Our hall is a Stradivarius
Manon Caine Russell Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall
Performance Art
USU's new Performance Hall was composed for the ages. Eighteen-inch-thick concrete walls, adjustable curtains and canopies, and muffled sound, heating and electrical systems insulate patrons from all sound except for the acoustically sublime performance on stage. Sized for 22 musicians, the stage is perfectly scaled for intimate concerts, performances and speeches.
This attention to acoustical detail is exactly what donors Manon Caine Russell '53 and Kathryn Caine Wanlass '38Att had in mind when they made the largest individual gift in USU history. Deeply involved in the project from preliminary architectural planning to grand opening, the sisters envisioned a hall that would evoke the best in student and visiting performers, elevating the level of public performance for the enrichment of the entire region.
"A great performance hall has the same qualities as a fine instrument," says musician-in-residence Russell Fallstad. "The hall itself amplifies the sound, bringing every range into perfect balance. Our hall is a Stradivarius."
The opening of the performance hall lays the cornerstone to the Caine School of the Arts, which promotes greater collaboration among the performance arts and other campus creative endeavors such as creative writing, interior design and landscape architecture.
The Merrill-Cazier Library
Technological assistance is within an arm's reach on every wired floor
Merrill-Cazier Library
USU's sprinkler-equipped, seismic shock-proof new library addition opened in fall 2005 - an extension of the Cazier Sci-Tech Library constructed in the mid-1990s. For the first time in ten years, the university's entire collection is housed under one roof.
The Merrill-Cazier Library, named after a deceased senior administrator and USU's 12th president, is a paragon of comfort and convenience on the inside.
Ottomans, plants and area rugs create a touch of home for marathon study sessions. The indoor-outdoor Quadside Cafe is a great spot to take a break and admire the native landscaping.
Technological assistance is within an arm's reach on every wired floor - at PC hook-ups in study rooms and Internet-linked terminals in open areas. Reference librarians and computer technicians work side-by-side in the information commons on the first floor so research and equipment questions can be answered simultaneously.
From the time you place your order at a computer terminal anywhere on campus, it takes two minutes for a closeted book to be delivered to the service desk by the automated retrieval system, the first to be installed in an academic library in Utah.
The Romney Stadium renovation project will be the anchor as we look to reclaim our position atop the Intermountain Region in athletic competition.
North Endzone Project
Romney Stadium Renovation
The university currently stands at the threshold of a new and challenging era of athletic competition. The Romney Stadium renovation project will be the anchor as we look to reclaim our position atop the Intermountain Region in athletic competition." — Athletic Director, Randy Spetman
A new era has begun for Utah State athletics. Aggie football and basketball now compete in the Western Athletics Conference.
To ensure that facilities measure up to this level of competition, the Athletics Department is renovating and expanding 35-year-old Romney Stadium. During phase one of the $27-million project, a new synthetic playing surface was installed inside the stadium, making it possible to hold a variety of university and community events in any kind of weather.
Phase two began in fall 2004 with a major renovation to the east side of the stadium that included a food court, more restrooms and concessions, and sky boxes for corporate and family entertainment.
When phase three is complete in August 2007, the north end of the stadium will be enclosed by a three-story, 50,000-square-foot complex that houses training rooms and coaches' offices.
Edith Bowen Laboratory School
classrooms for art, math and science, and music education, and a 400-seat auditorium
Edith Bowen Lab
From its inception in 1928, Utah State's Edith Bowen Laboratory School based its teaching philosophy on the principle that learning occurs by doing, not by passively observing. That tradition continues today in the school's new 800,000-square-foot facility funded by a $12.5-million gift from the Emma Eccles Jones Foundation.
In fall 2003 the east wing was opened - with its classrooms and interactive library. On Oct. 4, 2004, the school celebrated the completion of the west wing, which houses the Emma Eccles Jones Center for Early Childhood Education, classrooms for art, math and science, and music education, and a 400-seat auditorium.
The exterior of the building is as engaging as the interior: A native plant garden, 8-foot-high play hill, and interactive bronze sculptures by Kraig Varner of Orem, Utah, and Cynthia Hailes of Petersboro, Utah, keep the school's 300 students happily occupied during recess.
If they were still alive today, the three dames of the Edith Bowen Lab School would have approved. First principal Edith Bowen, kindergarten teacher Emma Eccles Jones, whose foundation has supported numerous educational causes on campus in addition to the lab school; and children's literature advocate Anne Carroll Moore of the New York City Public Library, for whom the new school library is named � they all believed in the power of learning by doing.
The new engineering building is a living, breathing example of our commitment to students
New Engineering Building
Engineering Building
The new engineering building was designed by MHTN Architects of Salt Lake City to take full advantage of modern technology-enhanced teaching methods that emphasize team work and interactive learning. Funded with a combination of state, corporate and private funding, the building is both a place of learning and a tool for learning, with its infrastructure visible to all who enter.
The second phase of the Engineering for the Future Campaign will be a remodeling of the old lab wing to upgrade it into the major research facility on campus. When that phase is done, the two buildings will be linked.