New Bunnell Building Will Honor First University of Alaska President

Excerpted from Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, May 21, 1960

Dedication Slated Sunday In Bunnell Lecture Center

The new $2.5 million Bunnell Building on the University of Alaska campus will be dedicated at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow. Ceremonies will be held at the Bunnell lecture hall in the building. The building is named for the late Dr. Charles Bunnell, first and long-time president of the institution. His only daughter, Jean Bunnell Kennedy of San Francisco, will be present to participate in the ceremony. She is due to arrive here this weekend.

The fine modern structure dominates the brow of the university hill, fully utilizes winter light from south and western windows and commands a spectacular view of the Tanana Valley and the Alaska Range. The attractive modern structure has wide corridors; finely equipped laboratories and classrooms - both large and small; houses a splendid library, faculty, and administrative offices. The large auditorium, named Bunnell Lecture Hall, is equipped with variable light controls, movable blackboards, and other facilities. The design of the entire structure is for maximum utility. There is an impressive entrance, a central switchboard and information center. The building is connected with the power plant by underground utilidors carrying steam, water and electrical lines.

The new building is part of an $8 million construction program carried on during the past seven years while Dr. Ernest Patty was university president.