The second building under construction at the Colorado State University (CSU) Spur campus in Denver is expected to open next year.
The university says the Terra building is scheduled to open several of its spaces in January 2022 and is one of three buildings at the CSU Spur campus at the future National Western Center in Denver.
The other two will also be completed in 2022: the Vida building in January, and the Hydro building in September 2022.
The CSU Spur campus is focused on providing unique education opportunities. Students from all three CSU System institutions (CSU, CSU Pueblo, and CSU Global) can connect with real-life experiences that complement their degree programs.
The 60,000-square-foot Terra building is focused on food and agriculture and will be home to programs that enable the public to interact with food production and understand where food comes from.
Programs housed within the Terra building will promote agricultural literacy and lifelong learning, foster innovation and entrepreneurship, enhance the health and well-being of communities, and advance the sustainability of our urban and rural food systems.
Examples of programs at Terra:
- Cam [the Ram]’s Agriculture Academy, a high-tech experiential learning laboratory delivering hands-on agricultural research experiences for students in grades 4 to 12 and their teachers.
- Urban agriculture research and public demonstration featuring vertical gardening, a green roof and rooftop greenhouses .
- A suite of product development facilities where CSU researchers will support small- to mid-size entrepreneurs in conceiving the next innovations in food.
- A commissary kitchen providing facilities for local food businesses.
- A soil, water and plant diagnostic laboratory providing universities, government agencies, private companies, and homeowners with analysis and consulting, plant pest and disease identification services and pest management education.
Together We Grow, an industry consortium for the food and agriculture sector, will be headquartered at CSU Spur. Its members represent some of the world’s largest food and agriculture interests, higher education institutions, NGOs, and government organizations.
The architect for the Terra building is Anderson Mason Dale Architects and the general contractor is JE Dunn. The project manager is CAA-ICON.
