News Release

Ribbon-cutting festivities mark opening of new entrance

April 2, 2008

The new front entrance to Olmsted Building, formally opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 1, is the latest in an ambitious list of construction projects aimed at enhancing the look of campus while supporting its academic mission.

Participating in the ribbon-cutting festivities were: Chancellor Madlyn L. Hanes, Faculty Senate President Toni DuPont-Morales, Student Government Association President Sahar Safaee, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Mukund Kulkarni, and Anna Childe, the architect for the project with the firm of Weber Murphy Fox.

The University project was approved by the University Board of Trustees in late March 2007 and construction began in mid-summer. The Penn State Office of Physical Plant Design Services was the design professional for the 5,262-square-foot addition with Poole Anderson Construction the general contractor.

The enhanced entrance to the building is a three-story addition featuring a new atrium lobby, a café expansion, a new elevator to improve handicap accessibility, and a third floor conference room.

Since 2000, the ambitious expansion of the Penn State Harrisburg campus has included a 115,000-square-foot technologically enhanced library, all new student housing, an indoor aquatic center, new rear entrance to Olmsted Building, Ziegler Commons, the Hoverter Tennis Complex, new baseball field, and an addition to Church Hall including an elevator.