Kansas State University officials and dignitaries broke ground on a $75 million expansion of Seaton Hall Friday afternoon on the east side of a building that’s stood on campus since 1910.
Of the $75 million, $60 million comes from state bonds while the other $15 million comes from donors and increased student fees.
The expansion will add 194,000 square feet of space. New design and production labs along with an outdoor teaching amphitheater will be some of the new features.
Most of all it will be another major change to the landscape of KSU, which has already been covered in more construction tape than most small cities.
The expansion for the College of Architecture, Planning and Design is as exuberant as its dean, Tim de Noble, who has been a driving force in raising awareness for the project since he was hired in 2009.
Before the ceremonious turning of ceremonious dirt with ceremonious shiny shovels — construction workers will wish the soil is that easy to deal with once real ground is broke within the month — de Noble expressed thanks and cracked jokes on stage in front of supporters and a growing audience of students who were passing by between classes in the heart of K-State’s campus.
The audience also heard from KSU President Kirk Shulz, Kansas Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and State Rep. Mark Hutton of Wichita, who is a K-State alum.
“It’s way overdue,” de Noble said about the expansion shortly after he turned over his share of dirt. “We do a great job of recruiting because of the quality of our programs, but we’re trying recruit students from beautiful, beautiful high schools in their communities, and then they come in here and they’re paying tuition and we’re asking them to kind of forget that we’re telling them that the designed environment matters, but don’t look around you — design beautiful spaces — but don’t look around you.
“Now we’re going to have beautiful spaces that reflect our values and we’re very excited about that. Overdue. Long overdue.”
The expansion plan calls for blending in the older architecture of Seaton Hall into the modern look the new addition will have.
“Part of what we want to do is be respectful of historic architecture,” he said. “A great mix between old and new.”
After the officials and de Noble finished with the ceremony and shoved their shovels back in the loose soil, de Noble said told onlookers they were free to pose with the shovels and hardhats and get their own pictures taken.
De Noble said the gesture — not common at too many groundbreakings — was to show how it’s taken more than just one or two people to get the project rolling.
“This has been a team effort,” he said. “You can imagine that if your designing a building for all those designers, you really, really have to have their opinions. We went a long way to get a lot of student opinions and faculty opinions. We had online questionnaires, and really, with the student fee, they’re really invested in this project, so we really want them to feel like they’re a part of it, because they are.
“That’s why were doing it. They are our future. They’re our future alumni as well.”
