CSU Buildings and Grounds History

Microbiology Building, 1969

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 – Ken R. White Company (original), SLATERPAULL Architects of Denver (2002)

Builder – Pinkard Construction Company of Denver (original), Hensel Phelps Construction Company (2002)

401 West Pitkin Street

Construction by the Pinkard Construction Company started in February 1967. Designed by the Ken R. White Company, it cost $2,065,000 and opened in the fall of 1969.  It was the second building of the “Biological Science Complex” along Center Avenue.  The Microbiology Building originally consisted of two wings. The west wing was a two-story lecture facility that accommodated undergraduate instruction.  The four-storied east section held the offices and laboratories for research and graduate work.

Within twenty-eight months of opening, serious defects became apparent in the heating, air-conditioning and ventilation systems.  Additionally, water pipes in some parts of the building were susceptible to freezing in cold weather.  This led to an angry dispute with the architects responsible for the building’s design.  It took $140,000 in state appropriated money to fix the problems.

As the years went on and technology advanced, students, faculty and staff in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology were able to take advantage of the ever-evolving state-of-the-art facilities housed in this building. This department has been one of the most active and leading research units on Colorado State University's campus. From 1994-1998 it generated over $36 million in contract and grant awards.

In 2002, an addition designed by SLATERPAULL Architects of Denver increased the building’s size to three wings.  The “A” wing is the two-story lecture wing.  The “B” and “C” wings are the four-story administrative and laboratory wings.  Students now enjoy the use of several state-of-the-art facilities in this building including a computer lab, mass spectrophotometers, and ultra-low temperature freezers. The “Typhoon Trio Imaging Facility” is available to CSU researchers for imaging of fluorescent and radioactive experiments. Researchers located within the Microbiology Building study primarily tuberculosis, leprosy, mRNA metabolism, and virology.

The building houses the Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility as well as the Mycobacterial Research Laboratories (MRL). The BSL3 facilities are associated with the MRL and participate in a wide variety of independent and collaborative mycobacterial-related research programs.  The Wilusz Laboratory is interested in the mechanisms and regulation of mRNA metabolism in eukaryotic cells and how these processes influence pathogenesis of human diseases, including cancer, viral infection, and myotonic dystrophy. The Geiss Laboratory is focused on understanding how mosquito borne Flaviviruses and Alphaviruses replicate at the molecular and biochemical level to develop novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of arboviral diseases.