Potato Virus and Weed Research Laboratory, 1964
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 – William B. Robb of RB&B Architects, Lynn Edward Anduss of CSU Facilities Management
Builders - Western States Construction Company (original), CSU Facilities Management Remodel and Construction Services Section, Heath Construction Company (2015 addition)
300 West Pitkin Street
The Potato Virus and Weed Research Laboratory was designed by William B. Robb of RB&B Architects of Fort Collins. Since its construction in 1964 by the Western States Construction Company, its labs, greenhouses, and offices have been used by the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. Long-term research into controlling weeds and the fighting of disease problems experienced by regional potato growers was done there. Maps from 1992-1993 indicate the greenhouse area was expanded during the summer of 1992. This dual work was carried on in the building and greenhouses until 2000.
Since 2000, the Weed Research Laboratory has been used by weed control researchers in the Department of Bio-agricultural Sciences and Pest Management. Historically, the facility was built on the site that had once been the sheep pens on the College Farm. University architect Lynn Edward Anduss designed renovations to the building over the years.
From late 2014 to the summer of 2015 a new addition on the southwest portion of the building was constructed. The Remodel and Construction Services Section of the Department of Facilities Management worked with Heath Construction Company to do the construction work.
Sources by Gordon A. Hazard
“Long Range Development Program”, Report to the Colorado State Planning Commission, March 1952, campus maps, LD1145.8, A452, 1952.
Colorado A&M News, December 1955, pages 1-9, vol. 10, number 6.
University Historic Photo Collection, image B8318, dated September 1960.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 29-30, 1962, page 430.
Colorado State University Collegian, October 23, 1962, page 2, vol. LXXI, number 18.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 12, 1962, page 517.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, February 15, 1963, page 544.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, May 7, 1963, pages 592- 593.
Colorado State University Collegian, September 27, 1963, page 8, vol. LXXII, number 5.
The CSU Alumnus, November – December 1963, page 7, vol. 38, number 5.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, October 21, 1966, page 166.
“1968 Silver Spruce”, pages 104-105.
CSU Rocky Mountain Collegian, November 5, 1970, page 6, vol. LXXIX, number 32.
“A History of Colorado State University 1870 – 1974”, by James E. Hansen II, 1974.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, March 27, 1981, page 5-2.
Rocky Mountain Collegian, February 17, 1984, page 1, vol. XCII, number 105.
Rocky Mountain Collegian, December 1, 1989, pages 6 and 7, vol. 98, issue 78.
“Visionary Leadership, the Memoirs of William E. Morgan”, page 96, by Connie Pheiffenberger, 2005.
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