Pittsburg State University leaders offered a closer look at two major downtown redevelopment projects during guided tours on Jan. 23, highlighting how the new Kelce College of Business building and the renovation of the historic Besse Hotel are designed to benefit students and strengthen connections with the community.
University officials began the afternoon inside the nearly completed Kelce College of Business building, which will replace the college’s current facility and bring business programs closer to downtown employers and organizations.
“This is really meant to be an academic home for our students,” Dr. Paul Grimes said, dean of the Kelce College of Business. “We want students to feel welcome here, to feel like they belong here and to want to stay and work together.”
The new building is centered around a large atrium designed as a gathering space with casual seating, study areas and room for campus events. Grimes said the atrium will serve as the heart of the facility, encouraging collaboration between students, faculty, and staff.
“The atrium is like the living room of the building,” Grimes said. “It’s a place where students can study, meet with faculty and feel connected.”
The first floor will house the Student Engagement Center, which will provide advising, recruitment and internship support, along with several meeting rooms for prospective students and families visiting campus. The building will also include a business “outreach street” featuring the Business and Economic Research Center, entrepreneurship programs, a professional sales center and the Center for Business and Talent Development.
Provost Dr. Susan Bon said the building reflects the university’s broader Gorilla Rising initiative and its focus on downtown partnerships.
“We’re closing the space between our campus community and our downtown community,” Bon said. “Having students, faculty and staff downtown every day benefits our students and strengthens the life of the city.”
Classrooms in the new facility were designed with flexibility and technology in mind. Many rooms will feature movable furniture for group work and presentations, while specialized classrooms will support data science, information systems, and graduate-level case discussions.
One of the building’s most unique features is a new behavioral research lab designed for marketing and economics students. The lab will allow students to conduct focus groups and observe decision-making through recording equipment and observation rooms.
“It’s a very hands-on, applied space,” Grimes said. “It takes what students learn from textbooks and puts it into practice.”
After touring the business building, university leaders walked a short distance to the Besse Hotel, where another redevelopment project is underway. The historic building is being transformed into a mixed-use space that will include student housing, university offices, and community-focused areas.
Maria Thompson, director of Housing and Residence Life, said the upper floors will include apartment-style units designed to help meet growing housing needs.
“This is the penthouse unit,” Thompson said during the tour. “It’s a two-bedroom with private baths, and upstairs is the living room, dining room and a half bathroom.”
Thompson said the project will offer an alternative housing option as residence halls continue to fill.
“Students who live on campus tend to do better in school,” Thompson said.
The lower floors of the Besse Hotel will house university offices and spaces open to the public. Wesley Streeter, associate vice president for economic and community engagement, said the project is part of a larger effort to strengthen ties between the university and downtown businesses.
“The lower first floors here will be primarily to reach the public, the community,” Streeter said. “And very accessible by the community.”
Streeter said the building will include offices for the Kansas Department of Commerce, the university’s Center for Reading, and community meeting rooms designed to support small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“These projects really work together,” Bon said. “They bring students closer to their classes, closer to downtown businesses and closer to the community.”
University officials said both projects are expected to create new opportunities for learning, collaboration and community engagement while bringing more student activity into downtown Pittsburg.
“Our current facilities no longer meet the needs of our programs,” Grimes said. “This new space will allow us to teach, collaborate and connect with the community in ways we’ve never been able to before.”