Weber shows off renovations

OGDEN — Nolan Karras pointed out the "best girl-watching" locations on campus at Weber State University Friday during a tour of the five newest renovations there.

The WSU alumnus and state Board of Regents member said the improvements cater to a much-needed new look to the old campus.

The school, found to have some of the oldest original construction of any college or university in the state, recently spent $125 million on capital improvements, bringing new life to campus, said WSU vice president of administrative services Norm Tarbox.

The iconic bell tower area at the center of campus morphed from "what seemed like miles and miles of concrete" to a "national park replica," Tarbox said, while showcasing newly installed waterfalls coursing over rocks that match the Wasatch hillside scenery.

Five buildings branch out from the Stewart Bell Tower Plaza, all of which received some sort of face-lift over the years. The "signature building," Tarbox said, is Elizabeth Hall, which replaced dilapidated 1950s era "Buildings 1 & 2" to provide 35 classrooms and more than 90 faculty offices.

Elizabeth "buzzes" during the regular school year, as it is the school's largest credit-generating facility on campus.

The entrance to the Stewart Library also got a $1 million upgrade, giving the "dark and dingy place" new life, Karras said.

"The difference is night and day," he said.

Natural underground springs were tapped to provide water to the bell tower feature and space is better utilized for students to get the most out of the new campus center. Three-million dollars turned Lampros Hall from an empty building to a technology and multimedia center that Tarbox says "glows after dark."

The timing was perfect for the sporadic renovations, with gift money coming at appropriate times to get the work done — work that Tarbox said if it were done today, would be double or nearly triple the cost.

One-third of the money used for campus improvements came from state appropriations, while various donations the past seven years made up the remainder.

E-MAIL: wleonard@desnews.com