University leaders, students, faculty, donors and public officials officially broke ground on Schweitzer Engineering Hall Friday afternoon on the Pullman campus.
Set for completion in 2026, the student-centered facility marks a rare equal partnership between the state and more than five dozen philanthropists, who are funding the $80 million facility equally. The largest donors include Edmund and Beatrize Schweitzer, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratory, and the Boeing Co. The Legislature included $40 million in the state’s capital budget signed by the governor this spring.
This modern facility will enable WSU to provide future generations of engineering and computer science students with functional meeting and collaboration space along with advising and tutoring in a single location. This project will also allow WSU to vacate and eventually demolish Dana Hall, which was constructed in 1949. This 90,000 square foot, 73-year-old hall has never been renovated and it lacks appropriate restroom facilities, fundamental ADA access for entering the building or moving between floors, amongst many other structural issues. It has an $18 million deferred maintenance backlog and is one of the highest energy consumers on the Pullman campus.
