Built in 1942, the Communication Building remains one of Boise State’s oldest reminders of its early years.
After operating as the Student Union Building, theater department and a storage building, the space has found its current life as the hub for the communication and media departments.
The building recently became a part of the other various construction projects popping up around campus.
Despite the visible construction, the project primarily focuses on exterior repairs aiming to limit moisture intrusion on the building and “includes work on the brick, mortar and siding, as well as some window replacements,” according to Janelle Smith, executive assistant of Campus Operations.
The project is expected to be done in mid-October, and while it may look slightly different afterwards, the 80-year-old building is no stranger to facelifts.
Built with support from the Works Project Administration, the building cost $28,000 and was originally designed to be a hub for Boise Junior College students. A 1942 Boise Junior College catalog describes the building as “on a convenient part of the campus” receiving support from the student body and the board of trustees as the “means of pleasant associations for students while not in classes.”
“They saw this real need to have this student gathering space,” said Emily Fritchman-Mahaney, a lecturer in Boise State’s History Department. “It was really the place to be at the time.”
In 1951, the building underwent its first major expansion, nearly doubling its space and adding a second-floor ballroom. An ornamental carving above the French doors at the north entrance still displays the date 1951.
By 1965, Boise Junior College became a four-year institution and quickly outgrew this version of the Student Union Building.
To meet growing demand for student recreation spaces, Boise State constructed the current Student Union Building with the former being repurposed as the “Music-Drama Building” and became known as the Subal building.
For the next 15 years, the building largely went unused until a massive 1984 interior renovation created classrooms and offices, turning the building into what it is today.
The building opened Jan. 23, 1985, according to previous reporting by The Arbiter, and held an open house allowing students and faculty to tour the new space.
After the 1985 renovation, the building was renamed the Communication Building and now houses Boise State’s Department of Communication and Media.
The current exterior renovations are another chapter in the historic building’s ever-changing history.
