Jon M. Huntsman School of Business

learn about the latest and greatest from the School of Business

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

New building is taking shape, even if you can’t see it yet

I just agreed to attend a meeting every Thursday for the next three years.

I don’t feel as bad about that as you might think because, unlike some other regular meetings I’ve attended, I know this one will result in something tangible. It will be big, beautiful and lasting. We will be planning and guiding the construction of the new building!

When I talk about the construction of a new business building, do you have any idea what it might look like? Well, I’m guessing you do now because we’ve put two pictures of what the building could look like in this blog. By sharing these pictures with you, however, I hope you you grasp a pretty simple concept. This is what the building “might” look like. It could change. It’s helpful, however, to share these pictures because then you can start envisioning the possibilities open to us now.

We are the customer when it comes to constructing this building. Here are three things that we want in the new building that I’ve told our partners who will help us through the process:


  1. We want the building to look cool. We don’t want it to just look good when it’s done; We want it to be impressive 40 years from now. Have you ever seen a building that must have looked cool and modern in the 1970s but now it looks like bad hair in an old high school yearbook? Our building won’t ever look like bad hair.


  2. It needs to look like and function like one complex. Our old building, the George S. Eccles building, and which I actually like, is not going away. It will continue to be part of the Huntsman School of Business. One way we’ll probably do that is to connect the old building with the new one by connecting hallways on the first three floors.


  3. It must also include a huge, awesome bungee-jumping platform on the roof. (Okay, that’s not true; I just wanted to see if you were still reading.)
When I drive by the George S. Eccles Business Building, I probably see something different than you do. You probably see the new Ag building going up next door to us. It’s tangible and real. I see, instead, our new building. It’s already taking shape in my head and maybe now in yours. Can you see it yet? Now maybe you can understand why my new weekly meeting is unlike any other I’ve ever attended. I’ll keep you updated as this vision becomes reality.



Ken Snyder

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting! It is nice to see some pictures and get an idea of the new building. I am looking forward to the bungee jumping platform.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Every time I look at these pictures I notice cool new things. Like the outdoor classroom between the buildings or the stock market tickers in the lobby.

    ReplyDelete