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A Lot Changes in 40 or so Years

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Coliseum under construction across from the Creative Arts Center.
  • Campus
  • Spring 2015
  • Flashback
  • Campus
  • Spring 2015
  • Flashback


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A lot changes in 40 or so years. That's especially true of West Virginia University's Evansdale campus. The PRT opened in 1975, long before the installation of the Student Recreation Center. Other buildings that sprouted in the intervening years are the Evansdale Library, the National Research Center for Coal and Energy and Mineral Resources and Engineering Research buildings that round out the engineering complex.

Some of the most rapid growth has happened with the last four years with new recreation fields, a greenhouse, the new home for the College of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences and student health called the  Health and Education Building, the  Advanced Engineering Research Building rising in brick from the engineering complex, the new  Agricultural Sciences Building, the  Evansdale Crossing hub beside the PRT engineering station that opens this fall and the Art Museum of WVU. 


And that's not all. Many other projects from housing to academics to athletics have grown in the intervening years. But this latest boom is more than anything a sign that WVU is making an investment in academics for today's students and those yet to be born.


Below, take a look at how the Evansdale campus has changed throughout the years. For alumni, it's like meeting an old friend after years apart or, for students, seeing the family photo album of a new friend you just made.


Aerial of Evansdale Campus in 1965.
This aerial photo, acquired Jan. 5, 1965, shows, from left, the Agricultural Engineering Building, the Agricultural Sciences Building and the Engineering Building with the downtown campus in the background. Photo courtesy  West Virginia and Regional History Center, WVU Libraries.
Aerial photograph of the construction of the agriculture buildings in 1960.
The photo above shows an aerial view of the agriculture buildings under construction on May 6, 1960. Agriculture Sciences is on the top left and Agricultural Engineering is to the right. Photo courtesy West Virginia and Regional History Center, WVU Libraries.
The Coliseum under construction with the Creative Arts Center in the foreground.
With the Creative Arts Center completed in the foreground, crews were busy at work on the Coliseum in the background. Photo courtesy West Virginia and Regional History Center, WVU Libraries.

Creative Arts Center under construction.

The Creative Arts Center under construction. Look at the wings on those cars! This photo was taken some time prior to the building's 1969 dedication. Photo courtesy West Virginia and Regional History Center, WVU Libraries.

Aerial shot of the Coliseum in the foreground of Evansdale Campus.

This undated photo shows the Evansdale campus with the Coliseum in the foreground. It appears to be taken before 1975 from the absence of the PRT. Photo courtesy West Virginia and Regional History Center, WVU Libraries.

The Towers dormitory under construction.

Take a look at the last two Towers dormitories under construction in this photo circa 1965-68. Photo courtesy West Virginia and Regional History Center, WVU Libraries.

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