Historical Statistics Building on Colorado State’s Oval Receives Facelift with Help of Colorado Historical Society

The 98-year-old Statistics Building at Colorado State University, originally built with an irrigation canal in the basement, recently received a facelift.

With help from the Colorado Historical Society, Colorado State renovated the grand entry stairs of the Statistics Building located on the southwest quadrant of the Oval. The stairs were leveled, crumbling masonry replaced and handrails added.  

The newly renovated building was built as the Civil and Irrigation Engineering Building in 1908. It is unique on campus because of its Mediterranean style with Mission elements and rock-face concrete masonry veneer. The building’s interior was fully restored in 1995.

The Colorado Historical Society approved the renovation plans for the stairs and gave Colorado State a $27,400 grant to help fund the project. The university matched the donation to complete the restoration.

Jonathan Feiman, project manager in the Construction Service Group at Colorado State, helped the university meet the terms of the grant. "Colorado State worked closely with the Historical Society to preserve the history of the building while making necessary repairs," Feiman said.  

The original masonry of the stair walls was made of a cement and sand mixture. The blocks had been slowly deteriorating because the mixture did not contain enough cement to withstand Colorado weather. Replacement blocks were fabricated with a stronger mix of cement and colored sand, using rubber molds of the original concrete rock-face veneer.

Larry Trampe of Architectural Resource Group was the project architect, with Richard Lippoth of Pinnacle Quarry providing expert analysis of the historical masonry and mortar. The construction contractor was Sun Construction & Design Services.

-30-