Aggie Village, 1966
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.
Architects – James M. Hunter and Associates (original), 4240 Architecture, Inc. of Denver (2016 Aggie Village replacement complex), Ambient Energy of Denver (2016 Aggie Village replacement complex energy designer)
Builders – Hensel Phelps Construction Company of Greeley, Colorado (1961 original), PCL Construction Services, Incorporated (2016 Aggie Village North replacement complex)
500 West Prospect Road (Aggie Village South) / 501 West Lake Street (Aggie Village North)
James M. Hunter designed this married student housing complex to replace the old Veteran’s Village with modern permanent apartments. Built by the Hensel Phelps Construction Company of Greeley, Colorado, the first phase opened for the fall of 1961 was a $1.5 million project designed for married students and their families. There were some that complained the use of the word “Aggies” made the new complex sound old fashioned and out of date in 1961.
Over the years it was called “Aggie Village North” and was located between West Lake Street and West Prospect Road. A second village of units became called “Aggie Village South”. These were completed in 1964 and were located on the south side of West Prospect Road. These “Phase II” apartments had the upgrade of individual thermostats to allow residents more control of the heat coming into their living space. In the early 1960s, Prospect Road was on the edge of town and carried very little traffic. This changed dramatically over the years as the City of Fort Collins grew.
Tragedy struck in the summer of 1990 when a resident, a little boy, was killed as he dashed into traffic on West Prospect Road as he tried to get to his mother. A tall chain link fence with self-closing gates was installed along the south side of Aggie Village North following his death as efforts were made to prevent this from happening again.
In the early 1990s, collaboration between the Department of Housing and Food Service and the Department of Human Development and Family Studies started the University's Children’s Center. In 1998 a community building in Aggie Village North was renovated and opened with the mission of providing year-round child care to faculty, staff, and students. This program was contracted to be operated by the child care provider The Sunshine House. It served about 45 families at any given time, with a general make up of 1/3 faculty, 1/3 staff, and 1/3 student families. The center was accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
In January 2014, it was announced that Aggie Village North would be vacated after June 30, 2014 with the existing structures deconstructed and demolished. A newly designed Aggie Village North would be built and ready for occupancy by 1000 people in the fall of 2016. This would triple the number of people living on the site. The residents would be junior and senior undergraduates as well as graduate students. Both single and married students were to live there in three large buildings.
During July and into August 2014, building deconstruction took place along with the removal of several mature trees and other landscaping plants. On August 22, 2014, the demolition began to remove the old Aggie Village North buildings. 4240 Architecture, Inc. of Denver designed the new complex with the help of Ambient Energy of Denver. Over the next two years, three large four-story buildings were constructed as the new Aggie Village North emerged.
In the fall of 2014, the Sunshine House Early Learning Academy formally located in the old Aggie Village North expanded with the construction of a new, larger facility on the South Campus. The new building is located at 2060 Perennial Lane.
As the new Aggie Village North complex neared completion, the first two old houses on the east side of Whitcomb Street and the west side of the new Aggie Village North were demolished on May 23, 2016. By early July 2016, all of old houses were removed as work was being completed on the new Aggie Village North. Their removal provided the space to install new landscaping along Whitcomb Street and provide automobile parking for the residents.
August 8, 2016 was the day the new complex officially opened for move-in by its 1000 residents. The campus map issued by Parking and Transportation Services dated summer 2016 showed the new Aggie Village having its three large buildings named “Walnut”, “Lodgepole” and “Cottonwood”. The complex’s contemporary architecture incorporated touches of James Hunter’s 1950s design elements such as varnished wood plank ceilings in the Lodgepole lobby that extend from the inside to the outside.
The older “Aggie Village South” complex was now being called “Aggie Village - Family”. According to the Director of Housing and Dining Services, it is planned that after the new housing villages that will replace Aylesworth Hall and Newsom Hall are completed, Aggie Village - Family will be replaced with a housing complex similar to the 2016 Aggie Village complex.
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Interview with Dr. James Dolak, Executive Director of Housing and Dining Services, February 15, 2017.
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