4 things you need to know about upcoming campus changes and construction
If you visit K-State in the coming months, you’ll probably notice some big projects
taking place on campus, including the construction of new facilities and the demolition
of older buildings.
“Part of being a next-generation land-grant university is embracing change and innovation
— but doing so in a way that honors our roots and serves our mission at its core,”
said Ethan Erickson ’98, ’00, vice president for administration and finance. “Our
ability to maximize teaching, research and engagement in modern spaces will allow
us to do just that.”
1) What’s happening on the north end of the Manhattan campus?
K-State’s new Agronomy Research and Innovation Center, expected to be completed in
2025, will be located on the north end of the K-State campus, in an area known as
the Agronomy North Farm across from Bill Snyder Family Stadium. It will serve as a
cornerstone for work that K-State agronomy department head Raj Khosla calls “critical
infrastructure for the success of our research, teaching and extension missions.”
Ernie Minton, dean of K-State’s College of Agriculture, adds: “The Center is a keystone
for the college’s vision to strengthen and diversify agribusiness in Kansas and around
the globe and will serve as a demonstration site for public/private partnerships focused
on best practices in sustainable/regenerative agriculture, crop production innovation,
technology development and training, and conservation and protection of natural resources.”
Khosla said some of the research projects planned for the K-State Agronomy Research
and Innovation Center include:
- How to breed new crop varieties that are prolific and resilient to pathogens and the changing biome.
- How to extend the supply of water by studying the most efficient use of that resource in crops and forages.
- How to use and co-create technology so that farmers of the future can produce more with less inputs.
Groundbreaking ceremony with Raj Khosla, head, K-State Department of Agronomy; U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran; Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly; Ernie Minton, dean, K-State College of Agriculture; and Richard Linton, K-State President. (Courtesy photo)
2) What are some of the changes planned for Weber Hall?
Two additional pieces of K-State agricultural expansion are the future construction
of an Animal Science Arena, which will create a modern home for the rodeo, Cattleman’s
Day and other large-scale teaching and outreach livestock events, as well as the future
Global Center for Grain and Food Innovation, an interdisciplinary facility that will
in part replace the physical footprint currently occupied by Weber Arena and Weber
123.
The demolition of Weber Arena is scheduled to begin after the conclusion of Cattleman’s
Day in March 2024. The demolition of Weber 123 is slated to begin in spring 2025.
According to Minton, the demolition of Weber Arena will allow for a smaller, repurposed facility that will
still enable livestock teaching and research activities on campus, in proximity to
other existing departmental functions, while opening significant space for the full
realization of an interdisciplinary center for food and agricultural research, teaching
and industry engagement.
"The cost to modernize and repurpose the existing structures of Weber Arena and Weber
123 far exceeds the cost to raze and start anew," he said. "This also allows for greater
design flexibility to meet the needs of today’s teaching, research and engagement
activities that take place in these spaces. In an ideal situation, all our new facilities would be constructed and occupied before
demolition occurs. However, K-State has a limited-time opportunity to seek state funds
for demolition, which accelerates our timeline but frees up philanthropic and other
funds for construction."
3) How is the university preserving the history of campus in the midst of these changes?
“As with our other demolition projects, every effort will also be made to preserve the history held within the original spaces,” Erickson reports. “Casey Lauer, associate vice president for physical infrastructure, and his team have been hard at work in collaboration with many university groups, including University Archives, to coordinate the appropriate archival of blueprints, photos and more to ensure the story of these spaces can be accurately told for years to come.”
4) What other construction/demolition projects are being planned for campus?
- K-State has no plans to tear down Ahearn Fieldhouse. However, deferred maintenance, cost of repairs, safety concerns and other factors have led university officials to close the Gymnasium and Natatorium facilities attached to the Fieldhouse. The Natatorium and Gymnasium demolitions will commence in late fall 2023, with site restoration spanning into the spring/summer of 2024.
- Edwards Hall demolition is slated for completion this fall. Originally built as an athletic dorm in 1968, the space housed the K-State Police Department, the Department of Environmental Health and Safety, and the Division of Human Resources. Those units have been relocated to other spaces on campus.
- At the K-State Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus, deferred maintenance and other issues have required the university to demolish the Facilities Planning Building. It will be returned to green space. Increased enrollment on the campus has led university leaders to construct a new residence hall, Earhart Hall, named in honor of Kansas aviator Amelia Earhart. It is scheduled to open this fall.
Want to learn more about K-State’s master plan for campus? Watch for our coverage in the upcoming fall 2023 issue of our member-exclusive K-Stater magazine!