CSU Buildings and Grounds History

From CSU's Sense of Place:  A Campus History of Colorado's Land-Grant University, by James E. Hansen, Gordon A. Hazard, and Linda M. Meyer.  Fort Collins, CO:  Colorado State University, 2018.

Architect – Eugene G. Groves

700 South Mason Street

In June 1931, the State Board of Agriculture approved an additional facility for the Department of Horticulture.  Located at the south end of the greenhouses, the original building was known as the “Horticulture Laboratory”.  It was dedicated on November 12, 1931 and provided students and faculty a building designed for horticulture research and experiments.  Records have not been found that list the architect for this small brick building that had red tile roof accents matching the neighboring buildings of the era. However, Eugene G. Groves was the architect working under contract for the College at that time, so he likely had a role in designing this building.

In 1985, an addition was built onto the west side of the original structure and the name changed to the “Plant Tissue Laboratory”.  An enlarged building skinned in simple red brick emerged.  The original portion of the building kept its red tile roof accent to distinguish it from the new addition.  In 1996, the old “Physical Plant Greenhouses” connected to the north side of this building were demolished.  About 2000, the building was renamed “Sage Hall”.  Since the late 1990s, Sage Hall has housed the Department of Psychology’s Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research.

The Tri-Ethnic Center studies social issues such as substance abuse, teen pregnancy, violence, and crime in young people of color. Tri-Ethnic Center researchers have used their findings to help communities around the country develop successful prevention and intervention strategies addressing these issues. This program has been honored by Colorado State University as being designated a “Program of Research and Scholarly Excellence”.

Other University offices housed in Sage Hall are the “Colorado Injury Control Research Center”, the “Colorado-Wyoming Alliance for Minority Participation”, and the “Colorado School of Public Health for Colorado State University, the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Colorado”.