CSU Buildings and Grounds History

Main Office for Buildings and Grounds Department, 1957

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.

On June 27, 1933, the Executive Committee of the State Board of Agriculture formally reorganized how the buildings and grounds would be cared for.  The use of labor provided by staff of the College Farm was discontinued and a new “Bureau of Operation and Maintenance” was created.  Professors LD Crain, Henry Jordan and George Beach were placed in charge of its three functional areas.  Care of the buildings, heating, water, and gas infrastructure along with general hauling and snow removal was given to Professor Crain.  Care of electrical systems including telephones was given to Professor Jordan.  The care of the campus landscaping was given to Assistant Professor Beach.  Professor Crain was authorized to hire two assistants to handle the daily work.  Much of the existing heavy equipment owned by the college would be shared by the College Farm staff, Experiment Station staff, and this new department.  Within a few years, separate facilities to house this new department would be needed.

In 1939, these offices, shops, sheds, and garages served as the center for organizing campus maintenance operations by the Department of Buildings and Grounds.  At the time they were originally located well west of the Main Campus buildings.  They were removed in 1958 after the new buildings to house the Physical Plant Department operations that flanked West Pitkin Street west of the railroad tracks were built.

The main offices were in a 9,961 square foot, single story brick building that stood just south of the Hydraulics Lab Reservoir.  This building, along with other shop and support buildings, were all torn down to clear the site for the construction of the new CSU Student Center.