One Piece at a Time

 The campus of Bloomsburg University has gone through numerous changes since its structural beginnings in 1866.  It was during that year when the Board of Trustees decided to buy three acres of land and elected Henry Carver as the principal of the Institute, according to BU Archivist Robert Dunkelberger.  Carver was instructed to design the first building; Institute Hall, and a dormitory for what became a school for teacher training, established as the Bloomsburg State Normal School in 1869. 

 “Over its long history Bloomsburg University has had an admirable record growth and expansion, becoming one of the best educational institutions of its size in the northeastern United States,” Dunkelberger said in a written statement.  “And this has been done in no small part due to the efforts of the individuals who planned our growth from one small building into a modern campus.”

            The funds for construction and land purchases between 1916 and the 1980s were provided mainly by the state, except when the Depression years hit and the federal government aided the university’s building plans.  Since those times, the funds have come out of development funds, student fees, and government bonds, according to university archives. 

            In the 1800s, the university purchased land and constructed buildings to expand its campus for the increasing number of students enrolling during that time period.  The campus included academic buildings, athletic fields, and open areas of terraced lawns in one condensed location by the early 1900s, according to a map from university archives.

            When Pennsylvania planned to improve and expand the facilities in the state system during the 1960s, Bloomsburg University received enough funds to jumpstart a “rapid growth,” as 17 campus buildings were completed between 1964 and 1976, according to a report by Dunkelberger.

            “The campus plans addressed not only classroom and dormitory space, but also more mundane but important facilities such as a parking garage to replace several student lots lost to construction,” Dunkelberger stated.

            The modern campus that presently hosts an enrollment record of over 9,500 students was transformed by construction projects of the late 1980s and 1990s.  Former university president James McCormick designed a $6 million upper campus dormitory project that was completed and dedicated as the Montgomery Place Apartments in 1989.  Other projects that improved the amount of space and facilities on campus included the renovation of Old Science Hall (1990), the expansion of the Scranton Commons to hold nearly 200 more students (1992), the addition of a ballroom in the Kehr Union to accommodate 600 more people (1993), as well as the construction of a student recreation center (1995), according to university archives.

Current renovations and construction projects on campus continue to reshape and expand the university’s campus. 

We continue to move forward to meet the campus’ technology needs, constantly providing the most current infrastructure, equipment and software possible,” BU President David Soltz said in a written statement in January.    “When completed these renovation projects will enhance our students’ experiences at BU and, just as important in the near term, they will provide and preserve current jobs in related construction fields.”