ISU's Town Engineering Building Upgrade

Iowa State University of Science and Technology will present plans to renovate and expand Town Engineering building to the Board of Regents at the September, 2021 meeting. If approved, the project will modernize the home of Iowa State’s Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering department and create a two-story addition on the building’s north side.

“It’s an exciting time for the department as it celebrates its 150th anniversary,” said David Sanders, Greenwood Department Chair and Professor in ISU CCEE. “We are looking back in celebration, but also looking forward to the future. Expanding our building is a big part of that future.”

Town Engineering was built in 1971 and remains largely unchanged since its original construction. With this project, Town teaching spaces will be expanded to promote team-based learning and research areas will be renovated to allow greater flexibility. In addition, restrooms will be updated to ensure full Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and building systems will be replaced as they reach the end of their service life.

“We don’t have spaces where students and faculty can get together to work on projects or research, or even just to talk,” Sanders said. “We want to create that energy to encourage collaboration and contribute to student success.”

Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering professionals are critical to Iowa and the nation’s infrastructure needs. As cities expand and more extreme weather events become more common, training the next generation of infrastructure engineers has never been more important.

“Having resilient and sustainable infrastructure systems is critical to the future of our state and the entire country,” Sanders said. “These efforts will require continued innovations in materials, processes, and designs, and Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineers are the people who will help get it done.”