Beaver Stadium isn’t the only major Penn State project underway. Here’s where 7 others stand
Penn State has continued to make progress on its major renovation of Beaver Stadium, but there are a number of other projects that will either be completed or see work happen throughout the year.
Some projects are at the very beginning stages, like the Pollock Halls renovation. After the university completed renovating East Halls last year, they’re now turning to Pollock Halls. Plans and costs still need to be approved by the board of trustees, but Tyler Amy, who does marketing and communications for the Penn State Office of Physical Plant, said the intent is to fully renovate in phases. The board will likely vote on the first phase of the renovation this year.
Last summer the Palmer Museum of Art relocated to its new 73,000-square-foot building amid a 5-acre landscape next to the arboretum. How its former space along Curtin Street will be used is still being determined, Amy said. The project design is progressing but there won’t be any construction until the trustees approve the project; there is no date set for that yet.
Renovations to the third floor of the HUB will be completed by the summer if all goes as planned. The project will create shared, flexible and collaborative student-centered space for student orgs, Amy said.
Here’s a closer look at some other major projects around campus:
Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building
The most recently completed project is the new Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building, located between Ford and Mateer buildings and across Fischer Road from the Moore Building. It officially opened this week, holding its first classes with the start of the spring semester. The $127.7 million project established a “social science hub” on campus, a press release from 2022 states.
The 143,000-square-foot building allowed several academic units in the College of Liberal Arts, including the School of Public Policy and the departments of Anthropology, Political Science, and Sociology and Criminology, as well as the School of International Affairs to relocate and be together under one roof.
The building includes general purpose classrooms and learning spaces. Several labs, centers and institutes moved to the new building, like the Matson Museum of Anthropology, the Population Research Institute, the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and the Criminal Justice Research Center.
As part of the project, Oswald Tower is planned for demolition later this summer, Amy said.
The building is named for Susan Welch, who was dean of the College of the Liberal Arts from 1991 until 2019. She died in 2022.
Students walk by the Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building on Fischer Road on the Penn State University Park campus on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
Nursing Building
A plan to renovate and expand the Nursing Science Building is on schedule to be completed this summer.
Renovation plans were approved by the Penn State board of trustees in 2023 and include “light touch-ups to fully renewed spaces” in about 25,000 square feet of the building, a press release states, and include replacing the facade to correct water intrusion issues and to match the entrance, HVAC systems, inefficient lighting and outdated finishes. Additionally, it includes a 2,700 square foot expansion on the building’s northwest side for a 180-person active learning, simulation ready classroom and knowledge commons space.
The project was not expected to exceed $28 million, with $10 million coming from philanthropic gifts.
The facility, located along College Avenue on the south-west corner of the HUB lawn, is the primary space for the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing.
Renovations at the Nursing Sciences building on the Penn State University Park campus on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
Osmond Lab
Work on the renovations and addition to Osmond Lab began last year and will continue this year. When the board of trustees approved the $115 million project, it was anticipated to be completed in January 2027.
The plan includes renovating a portion of Osmond Lab — located along Pollock Road between Davey Laboratory and the Boucke Building — and an addition to support the physics department on the University Park campus.
The renovations include specialized physics research laboratory spaces in a basement structure that connects the two above ground structures, Penn State’s vice president for facilities management and planning told the trustees last year. The 48,000-square-foot addition will add a high-bay research facility with space for large-scale instrument assembly and testing. This will allow for the safe movement of research equipment in and out of the facility. A press release from the university states such testing includes balloons, rockets, satellite payloads and deep-underground experiments in areas of particle and astroparticle physics.
Sackett Building
As part of the College of Engineering Master Plan, additions and renovations to the Sackett Building were approved last year and work will continue throughout 2025, although the project isn’t anticipated to be completed for a couple of years.
The $89.9 million project includes renovations and additions at the Sackett Building, located along the southwest edge of Pattee Mall, include remodeling the interior, two new wings that will be “historically appropriate in scale and aesthetics to the original building design” and an accessible pedestrian route as part of some exterior site work, according to a release from the university.
Sackett will have 12 general purpose classrooms with between 40 and 120 seats and a knowledge commons, once renovations are completed. It will also have several administrative offices for the College of Engineering.
Work is expected to be completed for fall 2027.
The project aligns with the demolition of the adjacent Engineering Units A, B, and C and Kunkle Lounge, both of which are slated for early this year, Amy said.
Although plans to remove Hammond Building have been discussed with the State College borough, that has not been approved by the board of trustees. If the board approved such a project, it would follow the completion of Sackett’s renovation, Amy said.
The Sackett Building is fenced off on the Penn State University Park campus on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
Crews work on the demolition of the Engineering Unit C on the Penn State University Park campus on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
New classroom building
The board of trustees recently approved a new $96 million, three-story classroom building near the intersection of Park Avenue and Bigler Road, adjacent to the Forest Resources Building. Construction is planned to begin early this year and is anticipated to be completed in time for the fall 2026 semester.
The 90,000-square-foot building will have large lecture halls, general purpose classrooms with seminar-style and flexible seating, and will be available to any academic college. Additionally, the building will have seating for students in between classes, study areas and building support spaces, a release states.
Indoor Practice Air-Supported Structure
South of Jeffrey Field, home to the Penn State men’s and women’s soccer teams, the university is building an indoor practice air-supported structure that will resemble the “bubble” practice facilities NFL teams use. With an estimated price tag of $10 million, it will feature artificial turf, sports lighting and surface parking.
Amy said the field surface is anticipated to be complete in the summer and the seasonal bubble will be installed next winter.
The practice bubble will “alleviate the scheduling stress and limited practice facilities, particularly in the winter and early spring months,” the university said in a 2023 release, as ten programs use Holuba Hall between January and March. By adding the practice bubble, additional and longer practice windows will be created for each team.
Crews work next to Jeffrey Field for the new soccer complex and indoor practice bubble on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025.
Jeffrey Field Soccer Complex
In 2023 the board of trustees approved a $21.25 million Jeffrey Field Soccer Complex, which will create a soccer operational facility just south of the field and renovate parking and the stadium. Restrooms and concession stands will also be improved. Construction began in 2024; the university is targeting a late 2025 completion date.
The soccer operations center will have space for the soccer coaching staff, locker rooms and team meeting space. Stadium renovations include creating indoor bathrooms, concession stands, entry plaza and standing room only areas.
#Beaver #Stadium #isnt #major #Penn #State #project #underway #Heres #stand