The Founders Building officially opened in September of 1973 to students, making it the first building to host classes on our campus. Though the building is a huge part of UTPB’s history, to our surprise there isn’t much written about it and there aren’t many photos of when it was first built. Thankfully, we were able to make a call to Founding Faculty Member and Professor Dr. Jim Olson who filled us in on the history of the Founders building.
According to Olsen, the building was home to the library and about 900 students. Imagine a building without walls and classrooms next to each other in an open space. Each class had about 15 students, with just enough separation between them where if a professor was speaking it wouldn’t interfere with the ongoing class next to them.
When the Mesa Building opened in 1974, the Counseling Center and the library stayed at the Founders Building before moving too.
In the early 90’s they even built a theatre inside the building. Years later, the building now houses a portion of the STEM Academy. Olson taught in the building when it first opened to students.
“It was a fun time, you would always see faculty and students since there were no walls. It was a new concept and it was pretty cool!” said Olson.
The building serves as a unique reminder of the progression on our campus over the past 50 years.
