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CSU Archives and Special Collections

CSU Buildings and Grounds History

A history of CSU's building and grounds from 1870 to the present.

Physiology and Biophysics Building, 1966-

A two-story stone and concrete building in a bare field of dirt.

Physiology Building, 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.

Architect – James M. Hunter and Associates

Builder – Wilkins Company, Incorporated

1380 Center Avenue Mall

On July 28, 1964, plans were announced for the construction of the Physiology and Biophysics Building.  This was to be the first building in a new “Biological Sciences Complex” to be built along Center Avenue on the main campus.  This $1.6 million building was designed by architect James M. Hunter.  The Wilkins Company won the bid to construct the building for research work in physiology.

A special feature of the building is its hypo/hyperbaric chamber. This hypo/hyperbaric pressure chamber simulates altitudes of up to 150,000’ and depths of 230’ below sea level for physiological response research and instrument and equipment testing.  The large size of this $200,000 chamber required it to be installed over the 1965 winter break and then have the second floor of the building constructed above it.  Dr. Leonard J. Caranna, a well-known authority in aerospace medicine, joined the faculty in the fall of 1964 and stayed for three years to direct research operations in the chamber.  Additionally, several temperature control laboratories were made part of the building.

The new building opened in September 1966. This building is basically used for graduate level studies and research.  It serves as home to the Department of Biomedical Sciences, the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology and the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biological Sciences Dean’s Office.

Sources by Gordon A. Hazard

The Colorado Aggie Alumnus, September – October 1962, page 3, vol. 37, number 9.

Colorado State University Collegian, October 3, 1962, page 1, vol. LXXI, number 7.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, May 7, 1963, page 593.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, August 10, 1963, page 90.

Colorado State University Collegian, November 1, 1963, page 3, vol. LXXII, number 25.

The CSU Alumnus, November – December 1963, page 9, vol. 38, number 5.

Summer Session News, July 30, 1964, vol. XIV, number 7, page 1.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, January 22-23, 1965, page 307.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, May 12, 1965, page 367.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, July 23, 1965, page 416.

Colorado State University Collegian, January 5, 1966, page 3, vol. LXXIV, number 58.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 17, 1966, page 89.

CSU Collegian, September 15, 1966, page 22, vol. LXXV, number 1.

CSU Collegian, September 19, 1966, page 3, vol. LXXV, number 3.

CSU Collegian, September 30, 1966, page 8, vol. LXXV, number 10.

The CSU Alumnus, November - December 1966, page 14, vol. 42, number 5.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, March 10, 1967, page 239.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 4, 1967, page 434.

“A History of Colorado State University 1870 – 1974”, by James E. Hansen II, 1974.

CSU Comments, April 3, 1975, pages 1-2, vol. 5, number 28.

Fort Collins Journal, September 11, 1978, page 3, vol. LXXXVII, number 19.

The Collegian, September 11, 1981, page 3, vol. XC, number 16.

Chiron’s Time: A History of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University”, 1983, by J. Dennis McGuire and James E. Hansen II, pp. 136-138.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, March 16, 2001, page 1, vol. 109, number 112.

“Visionary Leadership, the Memoirs of William E. Morgan”, page 96, by Connie Pheiffenberger, 2005.

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