Construction on Oregon State University’s Corvallis campus is ramping up for the summer break. Projects include the Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex, a new student dorm and updates to other campus facilities.
Many projects will wrap up before the start of fall term. However, several will extend into the new school year.
Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex
According to Project Manager Dustin Sievers for Capital Planning and Development, the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex is expected to be complete by December 2026. Construction began on the complex in April 2024.
Funds for the complex were donated to OSU by Jen-Hsun and Lori Mills Huang, the founder of NVIDIA and his wife. They are both OSU graduates and together made a donation of $50 million, according to OSU.
The building will cost a total of $200 million.The complex is also being funded through other donations and $72 million in capital bonds from the Oregon State Legislature.
On the main floor, there will be lots of new spaces for everyone to enjoy.
Sievers explained that the super computer will be housed in the lobby behind glass so that everyone is able to see the technology. In the lobby, there will also be a meeting room similar to the Horizon Room in the Memorial Union.
According to Sievers, all the wood used for the Innovation Complex is harvested within 100 miles of Corvallis and 5 percent of the wood is from OSU research forests.
Dixon Recreation Center
Construction for Dixon Recreation Center is set to conclude in the fall of 2026, according to Brian Hustoles, the associate director of Marketing and Communications at Recreational Sports.
Dixon renovations began in late March and will continue throughout the next few terms.
The Indoor Climbing Center, East Entry and Racquetball and Squash courts will remain closed, according to Hustoles. Along with that, construction on skylights and the roof and other mechanical work will cause intermittent closures that will be marked with signs.
Rec Sports does not offer any other racquetball and squash courts. However, climbing is still available at McAlexander Fieldhouse through summer term, according to Hustoles.
The Valley Library
According to Library Spaces Manager Rachel Burgess, The Valley Library is being renovated as well. At the main entrance, there is a plastic curtain behind which the Learning Commons is getting new carpeting and furniture.
Burgess explained that the last renovation of the Learning Commons was 17 years ago and that the library has been planning these updates for a year and a half. The decision to improve the Learning Commons was guided by surveys and interviews with students and by observations of how the space is used by students, Burgess explained over email.
“We think that it is especially fitting that the new furniture in the Valley Learning Commons was paid for by funds from the Friends of the Library,” Burgess wrote in an email. “This is one of the busiest study spaces on campus; it is used by people from every college and every department on campus. We love that it was not paid for by one huge donation, but by hundreds of small donations made by library friends who represent all of the communities we serve.”
New Dorm
Another big change is coming to campus with the addition of a new dorm hall.
According to an email from Sievers, “New housing dorm (South of Bloss (Hall) in the Parking Lot) will begin construction site set up around Mid-July 2025, with excavation activities starting Mid-August. Excavation for the building will start in October. The main construction activities for the building going vertical will begin during the Winter Term 2026.”
The Daily Barometer will follow more updates as they become available.
For more information on campus construction, visit OSU’s Active Capital Project website.
