Beck Academic Hall, the first new academic building built at Gustavus in 25 years, is open for student and faculty use. The building features a number of structural advancements, as well as academic features that will allow for more use by the departments that are housed in it: Economics and Management, Psychology, Sociology/Anthropology, History and Communication Stuides.

“Beck Academic Hall will provide faculty and students a center for teaching and learning,” Gustavus President  Jack Ohle said. “If a building can represent the traditions and values of an institution, Beck Hall does that and more. A new academic building became a top priority for the college because of Commission Gustavus 150. More space was needed for student learning and interaction, and while the Anderson Social Science Center served the college well, it did not have adequate space.”

The building is named after the Beck family, who have been extremely supportive of the college for years, and understood the need for a new academic building.

Faculty moved in two weeks before school, the students on Sept 7 and the finishing touches are being put on the labs at this point, as they are considered the least pressing thing to complete. The development, search for funding, approval of trustees and the search for contractors lasted until the building’s groundbreaking ceremony in April 2010.

While its application has not been processed yet, Beck Hall is expected to achieve a Platinum LEED rating, the highest available rating from the Green Building Rating Systems, a nationally accepted rating system for high-performance green buildings. Director of Johnson Center for Environmental Innovation James Dontje was a part of the planning committee and acted as the environmental advocate in the meetings. Dontje attended many meetings in the planning stages where the architects, other college employees and even the public discussed how the new building should look. Size, shape and natural lighting were the primary environmental concerns that were discussed.

The current building maximizes its size with three floors and a basement, the last of which will not be in use at the beginning of the building’s life. Dontje said this potential space is a key feature of the new building.

The natural light let into the building by the large atrium in the center of the building and the windows on all sides of the building will reduce heating costs in winter and lighting costs year round. In addition, a donor who had promised to help fund a wind turbine on campus allowed his money to be used to purchase photovoltaic panels for the new building.

“The building itself, if it performs as modeled, will use very low energy,” Dontje said.

“The space in the atrium and extra nooks in corridors are made more comfortable and inviting for impromptu studying with tables and chairs. Study rooms are equipped with projectors that can connect to laptops wirelessly, which makes group collaboration easier—a key feature of the new building,” Kyle Chambers, Professor of Psychology said. “It’s an exciting new space,” Chambers said.

The computer labs, rather than the standard desktops that most labs on campus have, are instead equipped with a bank of laptops. Group meeting rooms and classrooms contain wireless projectors, as well as rolling chairs and tables that allow a teacher or students to arrange the room as they see fit. The labs are arranged in a similarly collaborative way. The separate labs are all staffed in one large room, so students and professors working in different departments will be able to share research methods and findings.

The new building opened during a year when the entire campus is getting excited about its past.

“It’s a good opportunity to celebrate what we’ve done and be excited about what is yet to come,” Chambers said.

The building is going to be dedicated at 10:30 a.m. on the morning of October 1, 2011 on the West Mall.