Seaton Hall on the Kansas State University Campus is about to undergo a $75 million revitalization and expansion project that has been long over due.

The 100-year-old building is home to the College of Architecture, Planning & Design and when Tim de Noble, Dean of the College of AP Design was hired in 2009 he was tasked to address the aged facility.

“I said ok, but you know I had been in the front part of Seaton, I thought yeah it’s got some warts but I think we can do it. But during the interview process they kept me so busy that I never got past that first part. I remember my first day in early June or July that summer of 2009 walking back there and I went ‘Oh my god, what did I agree to?’ Little did I know that six years from then we’d be addressing that,” said de Noble.

The $75 million project is being funded using $60 million in state bonds and $15 million in private gifts. A $21 increase in student fees will also help fund the 194,000 sq. ft. project.

When complete the Seaton Complex will offer a new setting for collaborative study, one large benefit of the project according to de Noble.

“You’re going to have spaces that sponsor a lot of different interdisciplinary activity, collaboration, design research, testing. We’re going to have about 19,000 square feet of fabrication facilities, all contiguous, right now we’re kind of spread everywhere with little shops here and there.”

The project fits right into President Kirk Schulz’s vision for the University to become a Top 50 public research University by 2025, by being able to offer the best facilities for students to grow and learn.