CSU Buildings and Grounds History

Academic Village, c. 2010

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 – 4240 Architecture, Inc. of Denver (Engineering and Honors), Michael L. Aller, David Lingle and Bradley Massey of Aller Lingle Massey Architecture of Fort Collins (Commons and Aspen), Architecture Plus, P. C. of Fort Collins (window replacement)

Builders – Whiting-Turner Contracting Company (2007 Engineering Hall, Honors Hall and the Commons in 2008, Aspen Hall and Auxiliary Thermal Plant in 2009), Saunders Construction Company

800 West Pitkin Street

Approved for planning and development in December 2004 by the Board of Governors, this addition to the residence hall system opened for student residents for the fall semester 2007 on the site once occupied by Ellis Hall. The architectural firm of 4240 Architecture, Inc. of Denver designed the original two housing buildings while Aller, Lingle and Massey designed the Commons.

Academic Village provides fully air-conditioned suite-style housing in its “Engineering Hall” and “Honors Hall”. The “Academic Village Commons” is air-conditioned and houses the large dining center called the “Ram’s Horn”. The “Ram’s Horn” was completed and opened for business in the spring of 2008. This large dining facility allowed the older dining units at Ingersoll, Edwards and Newsom Halls to be closed and converted into other uses over the next three years. 

A third housing unit called “Aspen Hall” was started in 2008 and completed in July 2009. It was open for student residents without regard to their major. Designed by Aller, Lingle and Massey of Fort Collins, “Building D” cost $19 million and is 61,000 gross square feet in size.  It is able to house 216 residents in 2-person suites. That same summer, the MC Substation District Energy Auxiliary Thermal Plant #1 was also opened.  It is located just west of the Academic Village Commons building at 824 West Pitkin Street.

Architecture Plus, P. C. of Fort Collins designed a window replacement project at Academic Village according to their website dated February 26, 2013. Following commencement in May 2016, the original flagstone patio area in the courtyard was replaced with poured concrete. The colored concrete provided a smoother surface as the original flagstones were attractive but very uneven and difficult to walk on. The use of skateboards became permitted and encouraged since around 2014. Efforts have gone into smoothing rough, uneven sidewalks and plaza areas around the campus.