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Gateway Center Project

The renovation of the existing Community Services building (formally the West Central School of Agriculture engineering building) will transform a historic building with "good bones" into a highly functional Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified gateway to the University, and will:

Gateway Center East Elevation

  • Provide a highly visible and easily accessible entry space for all visitors to campus;
  • Provide office, meeting and visitor space-currently lacking-for the offices of Admissions, External Relations and Continuing Education and Regional Programs;
  • Colocate various offices of External Relations (including Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, Fund Development, Special Events, and University Relations) now scattered among four locations on campus;
  • Provide meeting and office space for business and educational partners, and policymakers from the region, who come to the University and the campus as partners, learners, innovators, and clients;
  • Maximize efficiency and synergy by providing shared spaces for meeting, marketing, and promotional displays.

Gateway Center Site Plan

The primary objective of the Gateway Center Project is to enhance access to one of the richest resources in the state-the University of Minnesota-by creating a portal to this distinctive coordinate campus for visitors, alumni, prospective students and their families, along with benefactors and friends. The project entails the renovation of a historic building-one of 18 that comprise the last intact agricultural boarding high school in the country, listed on the National Historic Register. The project enhances the ability of the University of Minnesota to open its doors and provide every citizen in the state an opportunity to visit, to learn, and to utilize the rich resources of the University of Minnesota and the Morris campus.

The $7.5M project, with $5M in state funds and $2.5M in University funds, will maximize the University's impact, providing a point of entry and invitation to the Morris campus, and a portal to the University's extensive resources.

Download printable information about the Gateway Center Project, January 2008 (PDF, 152K)