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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.

Chemistry Building, 1971-

A view of the exterior of the Chemistry building behind a lawn with a recently planted tree. The building is constructed with tan stone and gray cement.

Chemistry Building, 1972

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.

Builders – Pinkard Construction Company of Denver, Baldwin Construction now Alliance Construction Solutions (1994 3-story addition)

1301 Center Avenue Mall

Planning started in the summer of 1966.  During the summer of 1969, the Pinkard Construction Company of Denver began construction on the Chemistry Building.  It was built to replace the 1923 vintage Chemistry Building on the Oval. This state-of-the-art building contained some of the best laboratories at the University when it was opened for the fall quarter of 1971. This became the third facility to be specifically built as a Chemistry Building on the campus.

Officially dedicated at 10:30 a.m. on November 8, 1971, the Department of Chemistry occupies this 157,000-square-foot building designed by Charles S. Ingalls of Ingalls and Associates of Fort Collins. The consultant for the design of the laboratories was Earl L. Walls and Associates of California.  The B and C wing basement and upper three floors housed offices, teaching and research laboratories, glassblowing and electronics shops, classrooms, and seminar rooms.  The north A-wing of the first floor featured two large lecture halls.  A large bronze by local artist John C. Berland welcomed people at the entrance to the building.  A two-day Symposium on Chemistry and Society was held on November 8-9, 1971 to celebrate the dedication.  Seven prominent chemists from around the United States gave presentations at the event.

In 1982, William Dilatush of William C. Muchow & Associates, Inc. of Denver designed an addition and remodeling plan.  A 7,200 square foot addition was completed in 1984 and remodeling of 7,600 square feet of the building’s basement and second floor was done in 1985.  Approved on February 13, 1991 by the State Board of Agriculture, a 23,000 square-foot, 3-story addition to the west side of the building was completed by the Baldwin Construction Company in 1994 using the design of William Dilatush.

In 2002, the opening of Yates Hall connected this building to a three building complex that bridged the former Center Avenue that once ran through campus.  In 2011, using designs provided by the Nixon, Brown, Brokaw and Bowan architectural firm, room A103 received major upgrades during its renovation.

In the fall of 2014 it was announced that a new $55.4 million Chemistry Research Building was soon to be built.  It would be east of the Microbiology Building and replace the existing Stock Judging Pavilion.  Built to add space for the Department of Chemistry, it would be west of a new Biology Building.  Both of these new buildings were completed and opened for the fall semester of 2017.

Sources by Gordon A. Hazard

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 17, 1966, page 68.

CSU Collegian, December 7, 1967, page 1, col. 3-4, vol. LXXVI, number 41.

CSU Collegian, February 5, 1968, page 3, vol. LXXVI, number 62.

CSU Collegian, April 18, 1968, page 3, vol. LXXVI, number 95.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 21, 1968, page 571.

CSU Collegian, August 29, 1968, page 15, vol. LXXVII, number 1.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, September 27, 1968, page 14.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, May 14, 1969, page 151.

CSU Collegian, May 15, 1969, page 1, vol. LXXVII, number 103.

CSU Collegian, May 22, 1969, pages 5 and 6, vol. LXXVII, number 107.

The CSU Alumnus, September – October 1969, page 10, vol. 45, number 4.

CSU Collegian, September 29, 1969, page 1, vol. LXXVIII, number 10.

CSU Collegian, February 11, 1970, page 1, vol. LXXVIII, number 74.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, March 27, 1970, page 312.

CSU Collegian, June 19, 1970, page 5, vol. LXXVIII, number 143.

CSU Collegian, August 7, 1970, page 1, vol. LXXVIII, number 156.

CSU Collegian, August 18, 1970, pages 1 and 3, vol. LXXVIII, number 159.

CSU Collegian, September 22, 1970, page 5, vol. LXXIX, number 1.

CSU Collegian, October 20, 1970, pages 1 and 12, vol. LXXIX, number 21.

CSU Collegian, October 29, 1970, page 12, vol. LXXIX, number 28.

CSU Collegian, March 25, 1971, page 5, vol. LXXIX, number 97.

CSU Collegian, March 26, 1971, page 1, vol. LXXIX, number 98.

CSU Collegian, March 30, 1971, page 5, vol. LXXIX, number 100.

CSU Comments, October 14, 1971, page 1, vol. 2, number 5.

CSU Comments, November 4, 1971, page 1, vol. 2, number 8.

CSU Collegian, November 9, 1971, page 1, vol. LXXX, number 34.

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

The CSU Alumnus, September – October 1975, vol. 51, number 4, page 6.

CSU Comments, December 18, 1975, pages 1-2, vol. 6, number 18.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, February 2, 1976, page 1, vol. LXXXIV, number 88.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, April 26, 1976, pages 2 and 4, vol. LXXXIV, number 141.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 14, 1977, page 125.

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

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, May 9, 1979, 5-1.

The Collegian, September 3, 1980, page 11, vol. LXXIX, number 1.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, July 19, 1982, page 7-6, amended May 9.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, October 26, 1983, page 1, vol. XCII, number 61.

State Board of Agriculture Land: Chuck Terrell Interview, June 1986, pages 2 and 5.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, July 22, 1988, page 1, vol. 97, number 14.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, October 13, 1988, page 1, vol. 97, number 55.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, March 1, 1989, page 6, vol. 97, number 122.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, September 7, 1989, page 1, vol. 98, number 22.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, June 15, 1990, page 1, vol. 98, number 162.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, October 26, 1990, page 1, vol. 99, issue 54.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, February 13, 1991, 1-1a-m 1-1o.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, June 16, 1992, page 3, vol. 100, number 150.

State Board of Agriculture Land: Chuck Terrell Conversation, October 26, 1992, pages 2 and 3.

Continuing Education Summer 93 Bulletin, page 59, LD1146.C61, 1993, Archive.

Colorado State University Alumni, Winter 1994, page 4.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 11, 1997.

Comment, May 6, 1999, pages 1, 3, vol. 29, number 30.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, June 12, 2000, page 3, vol. 108, number 148.

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

Colorado State University Alumni, spring 2002, page 30.

Board of Governors Minutes, December 6, 2006, C-1-B, page 6, G-4.    

“Democracy’s University – A History of Colorado State University 1970 – 2003” by James E. Hansen II, 2007, pp. 73, 74, 228.

Colorado State University website at http://www.chem.colostate.edu/facilities/.

Colorado State University booklet “A Great Place for Students to Live & Learn” Construction Highlights, published January 2013.

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