Ogden College Hall opened its doors Monday for its first semester of classes after construction was completed in mid-December and faculty and staff moved into their offices over winter break.

The $32.2 million Ogden Hall is about 80,000 square feet, four stories tall and provides about 36 new laboratory spaces. Construction for the new facility had no delays, Chief Facilities Officer Bryan Russell said.

“This is the exact schedule we had, so really it went very well,” Russell said. “It is a great building for our students. It is providing just brand-new teaching spaces.”

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The new facility replaced Thompson Complex North Wing, which was the laboratory building built in 1960 and taken down in 2015. Funding for the renovation, including Ogden, totaled around $48 million and came from money allocated by the state, Russell said. 

Owensboro freshman and business data analytics major Shelby Wathen works as a receptionist at Ogden Hall. Wathen said the facility “has a very fresh vibe.”

“It’s like a pair of white sneakers that you don’t want to wear out because you know they’re going to get dirty,” Wathen said. “I really like the building because it’s new and different from all the other ones.”

Erlanger freshman and chemistry major Hana Floyd has a chemistry lab in Ogden Hall this semester. 

“I think they did an amazing job on it,” Floyd said. “They really took their time on the construction, and it really paid off.”

The $48 million from the state also included funding for renovations and upgrades to Thompson Complex Center Wing, which consists of about 117,000 square feet, Russell said.

“The fourth floor is completely being renovated and modernized,” Russell said. “There’s going to be minor renovation in other floors, but the fourth is being one hundred percent redone.”

The renovations for Thompson Complex Center Wing also include a new roof, which it has not had since 1967, new HVAC equipment, new lighting and other upgrades. Faculty and staff were moved out of Thompson Complex Center Wing, and construction is expected to start on that facility in the first week of February, Russell said.

News reporter Nicole Ziege can be reached at 270-745-6011 and nicole.ziege825@topper.wku.edu. Follow her on Twitter at @nicoleziege.