In the 1960s, back when state and federal funding was more than just loose change, the University went on a building binge.
It built or renovated 15 campus buildings, including Klamath, Bean and Hamilton halls – the ’60s construction accounts for 25 percent of the University’s total building square footage.
Then it virtually stopped – until 1997.
Since then, the University has spent nearly $500 million on 31 new buildings or renovation projects, making the last decade the biggest building burst in University history.
And it’s just getting started. The University plans to spend millions more on a basketball arena, potentially a new residence hall and alumni center.
The new buildings on campus represent more, however, than simply a University makeover – it’s the fruit of the administration’s epiphany that donors are the key to financial stability.
“The University realized the state wasn’t going to fund anymore,” said Chris Ramey, senior director and architect in University Planning. “So it approached donors and said, ‘Can you help?’”
And they have.
Of the roughly $500 million the University will have spent by 2008, more than half has come from private gifts, with the largest donations going to the Autzen Stadium expansion, the William W. Knight Law Center and the Lillis Business Complex. Not included in the University’s figures is Nike founder Phil Knight’s recent $100 million donation to Oregon athletics.
“Buildings aren’t funded anything like the way they used to be,” said Michael Eyster, University director of housing. “It’s not only in our state, but from what I can gather, universities are needing to be much more entrepreneurial.”
To facilitate that, the University embarked on a $600 million fundraising campaign at the start of the century. The University has raised $530 million to date.
“Without private donors we would simply not see this level of campus construction,” University President Dave Frohnmayer said. “There’s not a corner of campus that has not been touched.”
That bolsters the stakes for this administration’s legacy.
“We probably have as much ability to shape what the campus will look like in the future right now,” Frohnmayer said, “than in any other time since the original conception of the University by Ellis Lawrence.”
University officials agree that the campus was in desperate need of updating. The residence halls were known for their small size. Restrooms had been converted into classrooms in the School of Music and Dance. The basketball arena, however, is still one of the oldest Division I courts in the country.
“They’ve been very useful buildings for a very long time, but they’re not adequate anymore,” Eyster said.
The most recent updates to campus are the Lokey Laboratories, the Living Learning Center and the School of Education (which accounts for that giant hole on East 18th Avenue and Alder Street).

Built or renovated in the 60s

1961 – Hamilton Residence Hall Complex built
1961 – Erb Memorial Union underwent first renovation
1962 – Onyx Bridge and Environmental Health Building built
1963 – Prince Lucien Campbell Hall built
1963 – Bean Residence Hall Complex built
1966 – Knight Library underwent second renovation
1966 – University Health & Counseling Center built
1966 – Chapman Hall renovated
1967 – Klamath Hall & Science Library built
1967 – Autzen Stadium built
1968 – Architecture and Allied Arts Fine Arts facility
1969 – Clinical Services Building built
1969 – Gerlinger Annex built
1969 – Prince Lucien Campbell Hall renovated
1969 – Volcanology building renovated
Built or renovated since 1997
1997 – Allen Hall renovated
1998 – EMU Food Service and Recreational Facilities renovated
1998 – Moshofsky Sports Center
1999 – William W. Knight Law Center
1999 – OIMB Laboratory Addition
1999 – OIMB Rippey Library
1999 – Student Recreation Center built
2000 – McKenzie Hall renovation
2000 – Student Tennis Center built
2000 – Zebrafish International Resource Center
2001 – East Campus Graduate Village built
2002 – Straub Hall fMRI addition
2003 – Autzen Stadium Expansion
2004 – Heart of Campus built
2004 – Lillis Hall built
2004 – Moss Street Children’s Center built
2005 – Many Nations Longhouse built
2005 – Powell Plaza (Hayward Field)
2006 – Living-Learning Center built
2006 – University Health and Counseling Center renovated
2006 – Gilbert and Peterson Halls renovation
2007 – EMU International Area renovation
2007 – Lokey Laboratories, phase 1 built
2008 – Hayward Field Improvements
2008 – Miller Theater renovation
2008 – MNCH Curation Facility
2008 – Music School Additions and Alterations
Undated – Alumni Center, Lokey Integrative Science Complex, phase 2

Although outdated, the buildings play an important role in the overall campus feel, Ramey said. Any new development must align with the University’s plan to maintain open spaces.
Updating campus so thoroughly while the state suffers from rough economic times is “enormously gratifying,” Frohnmayer said. Years ago, such campus growth would have seemed impossible.
“If you’d asked us a dozen years ago, ‘Would you at this time (have all these new buildings)?’ You probably, in the vernacular, would have said, ‘What are you smoking?’”
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