Utah Tech University is growing exponentially. With new programs, buildings and construction, many students can’t keep up with the constant changes.
Aside from growth at Utah Tech, students have a wide range of services available to them that they may not know about. Much of this growth is due to the construction and expansion of Utah Tech.
Bryant Flake, executive director of planning and budget, said, “The future of Utah Tech is incredibly bright.”
South Campus
One of the biggest changes coming to Utah Tech is the addition of a south campus. Nesting between the Career and Technical High School and Desert Color lies 186 acres of land waiting to be developed.
Jon Gibb, director of planning and construction, said, “It’s a really good opportunity to expand and grow programs.”
This addition of the south campus would make Utah Tech’s campus 296 acres in total, doubling the size of the campus now.
Paul Morris, vice president of administrative affairs, said they are currently testing soil levels and creating a master plan to discuss possible buildings and programs that will be offered there.
Morris said: “From academic buildings to athletic facilities and hotels to buildings where entrepreneurship will happen to an innovation district. It’s a lot of fun to start at the ground level and take up a raw piece of ground and build a campus.”
Currently, the plan is to continue growing the main campus for another 10 years before working on the south campus, which would add more facilities to Utah Tech.
Gibb plans to announce the master plan for the south campus at a public forum for students to attend in the Eccles main stage April 1 at 11:00 a.m.
“We would love student feedback,” Gibb said. “It will be exciting to see what it could look like.”
St. George Fire Station 1
With large bays and ample office space, Utah Tech purchased this fire station in November and has plans to move programs in there.
The first big move will be for the Road Scholar Program, which is currently parked at the University Inn. This space will allow the buses to be closer to campus.
“We have all our buses that provide for athletics and other transportation needs,” Gibb said. “The new space fits the buses really well. They can park and maintain them easily.”
Another addition to this space will be for government vehicles.
Morris said, “We will have about five state cars over there and an electric key box where government employees can rent those cars and pick them up from that location.”
The last addition to this fire station will be partially moving the Outdoor Adventures Recreation Center. The space is currently underneath the gym in the Student Activity Center.
Because the fire station has large bays, the ORAC will move their larger items over to the station to allow easier cleanup and rental services.
Students can rent bikes, kayaks, paddle boards and other large items in the new space. Morris said this will allow students to easily pull their cars up to the garage doors and load the equipment into their cars.
General Classroom Building
The General Classroom Building will be the hub for all freshman and humanities and social science students.
The building is estimated to be completed in summer 2025. It will house many programs in the 120,000-square-foot facility, and it will include 53 teaching spaces and 125 faculty offices.
Upon completion, the English department will move out of the Holland building along with the Humanities department in the McDonald and into the new building.
“The domino effect of this building is we will eventually have everyone out of the North Plaza,” Morris said. “The Testing Center will move to the fourth floor of the library, and the Booth Wellness Center may end up there, but that’s not for sure.”
Gibb said the McDonald Center building will also be renovated, which will allow the art department to move in there. In the future, Morris said the North Plaza will be torn down to make room for parking or a field.
“It [the General Classroom Building] has an art project in it that is just phenomenal,” Morris said. “It’s pieces of colored glass that hang on cable from the ceiling. I can’t do it justice by attempting to describe it.”
With all of these changes, future students can expect more buildings and programs than ever before.
Gibb said, “The whole point is transforming campus into a place where students can live, learn, be resilient and find their destiny.”
