Pittsburg State’s $50M Gorilla Rising Project to expand business school, student housing downtown
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Pittsburg State is on a mission to bring the university even closer to the community.
"We need a new home," said Dr. Paul Grimes, Pitt State College of Business Dean and Professor of Economics.
216 North Broadway Street—the future new home of Pittsburg State University's Kelce College of Business. Now owned by the university, it's this land the university chose for Crossland Construction to design and develop into that new facility.
"We don't have that type of environment, you know, to really bring the kids along and to try to instill in them a sense of what can be accomplished in the business world," said Dr. Grimes.
For more than two years, the university has worked on its Gorilla Rising project, which includes two major components. The first is creating a new home for the Kelce College of Business, moving from the main campus to downtown. Dr. Grimes says this has been a project they've tried to accomplish for decades, and now it's coming together.
"We're trying to design the layout. You know, it's quite a job to figure out, you know, what needs to be adjacent to what."
Crossland Construction will now develop a construction schedule, updated renderings, and a site plan. Over the next six months, the final design will be confirmed, turning this building downtown into a new home with more opportunities for faculty and students.
"With all the businesses, the number of employers that are downtown, you know, we're looking forward to working with them."
The $50 million project is being paid for through a combination of private donors, along with local, state, and federal funding. That money will also cover the second component: transforming the historic Besse Hotel into student housing and a new home for the Center of Reading.
"We've tried to make it really easy for the community... And we'll have a brand new future for the Besse Hotel," said Dr. Dan Shipp, Pitt State University President.
Work on the Besse Hotel will begin soon and is set to be completed in the summer of 2026.
