Ceremonial ground breaking held for WSU’s Everett branch

EVERETT — With the turn of a few shovels of dirt Tuesday, leaders of Washington State University and Snohomish County began preparing a foundation on which will rise a new building and launch a new era for the city.

Interim WSU President Dan Bernardo led a contingent of officialdom in a ceremonial ground breaking for the Everett University Center that will be the cornerstone of the research university’s growing presence in the city.

“This is a big, big deal,” Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said a few hours before taking part. “For anyone who’s ever had any doubt of Washington State’s commitment to Everett, this should erase any doubts. We really can plant the (WSU) flag right now.”

The four-story, 95,000-square-foot building is being constructed on a chunk of land in the north corner of the College Plaza parking lot on North Broadway and Tower Street. The site is owned by Everett Community College, whose main campus is across the street.

Work on the $54.6 million structure is expected to finish in time for the start of the 2017 school year. When it opens, it will have at least a dozen classrooms, 10 laboratories, offices, a small café and an area for public gatherings.

It will serve as home to WSU North Puget Sound at Everett and the Everett University Center, a consortium of higher education institutions managed by WSU. Both now operate on the campus of Everett Community College.

State Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, who shepherded funding for the project through the budget process, called it “the stake in the ground. It really means (the university) has arrived. People are going to drive up that street and see WSU on a building.”

Retired state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, of Camano Island, who sponsored the bill that put WSU on the path it now travels, shared the sentiment.

“This is just the beginning. It is the first building but it isn’t the last. I think it’ll be another Vancouver,” she said, referring to WSU’s branch campus in that city. “Look at the programs (WSU) is offering. There is so much opportunity.”

Tuesday’s ceremonial dirt-moving is a milestone in the half-century effort to land a four-year university in Snohomish County.

Olympia beat out Arlington in 1967 to become home of The Evergreen State College. Two decades later, Bothell beat out Everett for a branch campus of the University of Washington.

In 2005, state lawmakers gave the University of Washington the inside track to establishing a beachhead for a branch campus in the county.

But feuding among the area’s representatives on a location — Dunshee and Haugen led opposing factions in that squabble — and the projected billion-dollar price tag torpedoed the effort by 2007.

In 2009, with the UW no longer showing much interest, Stephanson approached WSU President Elson Floyd about giving it a try.

In the next two years they, in concert with a core group of area lawmakers and two governors, pushed to put WSU in charge of the University Center program — Everett Community College had masterfully managed it for several years — and put in place the legislative pillars for the founding of WSU North Puget Sound.

Tuesday brought many tributes to Floyd, who died in June of cancer.

“Elson crystallized our dream of a research university in Everett into a focused and achievable game plan,” Stephanson said in remarks prepared for the ground breaking. “This new building, and the many students who will pass through its doors, will forever be a tribute to Elson’s vision and determination.”

The University Center is a partnership of WSU, UW Bothell, the three regional universities — Western, Central and Eastern — and The Evergreen State College. One private college, Hope International University, also is involved. Each college offers its own upper division courses on the EvCC campus or online. The collective enrollment is 530.

WSU North Puget Sound at Everett, with an enrollment of 158 students, offers classes to complete bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, hospitality business management and integrated communication. Software engineering and data analytics programs will be added to the roster in fall 2016.

Conversations for the new building began in 2012 and the following year WSU received $10 million in state funds to design it and acquire neighboring properties for use as parking. This year it snagged the money for construction.

“I remember being in Ray Stephanson’s office and saying we ought to have a building,” recalled Dunshee, who as chairman of the House Capital Budget committee ensured the state’s construction spending plan included financing for this project.

When the building opens, the Cougar flag will be flying outside along with those of the partner universities.

Stephanson said it will be a vital component in the community’s economic development. Area employers like the Boeing Co. are increasing their demand for aerospace, electronics and advanced manufacturing jobs is growing. That in turn is causing a surge in enrollment in engineering, science, technology and math programs at EvCC and University Center partners that are forcing the need for additional space.

That’s why Haugen and Stephanson think the size of the operation in Everett will one day rival that of the WSU campus in Pullman.

“I want to be there when this first building opens,” Haugen said. “I am hoping my great-grandchildren go there.”

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Students from Explorer Middle School gather Wednesday around a makeshift memorial for Emiliano “Emi” Munoz, who died Monday, May 5, after an electric bicycle accident in south Everett. (Aspen Anderson / The Herald)
Community and classmates mourn death of 13-year-old in bicycle accident

Emiliano “Emi” Munoz died from his injuries three days after colliding with a braided cable.

Danny Burgess, left, and Sandy Weakland, right, carefully pull out benthic organisms from sediment samples on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Got Mud?’ Researchers monitor the health of the Puget Sound

For the next few weeks, the state’s marine monitoring team will collect sediment and organism samples across Puget Sound

Everett postal workers gather for a portrait to advertise the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County letter carriers prepare for food drive this Saturday

The largest single-day food drive in the country comes at an uncertain time for federal food bank funding.

Everett
Everett considers ordinance to require more apprentice labor

It would require apprentices to work 15% of the total labor hours for construction or renovation on most city projects over $1 million.

Snohomish County prosecutor Kara Van Slyck delivers closing statement during the trial of Christian Sayre at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Thursday, May 8, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Jury deliberations begin in the fourth trial of former Everett bar owner

Jury members deliberated for about 2 hours before Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Millie Judge sent them home until Monday.

Christian Sayre sits in the courtroom before the start of jury selection on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Christian Sayre timeline

FEBRUARY 2020 A woman reports a sexual assault by Sayre. Her sexual… Continue reading

Contributed photo from Snohomish County Public Works
Snohomish County Public Works contractor crews have begun their summer 2016 paving work on 13 miles of roadway, primarily in the Monroe and Stanwood areas. This photo is an example of paving work from a previous summer. A new layer of asphalt is put down over the old.
Snohomish County plans to resurface about 76 miles of roads this summer

EVERETT – As part of its annual road maintenance and preservation program,… Continue reading

Apartment fire on Casino Road displaces three residents

Everett Fire Department says a family’s decision to shut a door during their evacuation helped prevent the fire from spreading.

Helion's 6th fusion prototype, Trenta, on display on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Helion celebrates smoother path to fusion energy site approval

Helion CEO applauds legislation signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson expected to streamline site selection process.

Everett Historic Theater owner Curtis Shriner inside the theater on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Historic Everett Theatre sale on horizon, future uncertain

With expected new ownership, events for July and August will be canceled. The schedule for the fall and beyond is unclear.

A “SAVE WETLANDS” poster is visible under an seat during a public hearing about Critical Area Regulations Update on ordinance 24-097 on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County Council passes controversial critical habitat ordinance

People testified for nearly two hours, with most speaking in opposition to the new Critical Areas Regulation.

An apartment building under construction in Olympia, Washington in January 2025. (Photo by Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard)
Next stop for Washington housing: More construction near transit

Noticed apartment buildings cropping up next to bus and light rail stations?… Continue reading

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.