With roughly a $28,000,000 budget, Gray Wolf Hall will open with faculty offices and classrooms, mostly correlated to the English or communication studies.

"Smart boards have been installed. The classrooms will be equipped with the latest technology for teachers," Thom Watson, the facilities maintenance manager, said. "There will be a sound system for presentations. Instead of just sitting by the computers, the speakers will be on the ceiling. There are no computer labs, but wireless will be available throughout the building."

As information in an Oct. 1, 2007 press release said, "Gray Wolf Hall will be home to the University Center of North Puget Sound and classes in the humanities, social sciences and communications."

Gray Wolf Hall will be open for spring quarter classes, though the completion date is scheduled for December. Randy Erickson, the superintendent of Mortsen, said that both the designing and building processes have gone smoothly throughout the past year.

"My biggest problem was when my tower crane swung over the elementary school. The school board didn't like that, so I had to cut 19 feet off of [the crane]," Erickson said.

GCCM (GeoCollaborative Crisis Management) projects can be thanked for the lack of production problems. "If any problems conceal themselves, they [Mortenson] offer solutions," Watson said.

"[We try to offer solutions] before we even start work or finish designing," Erickson added.

"Mortenson does 3D modeling, so conflicts are avoided. They see [problems] ahead of time and eliminate those problems," Watson said.

Along with the cutting edge technology, Gray Wolf Hall holds the silver rating and is nearing the gold rating from the United Sates Green Building Council (USGBC), which shows how eco-friendly the building is.

For example, one of the results of using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) that qualifies the building as economically friendly is Gray Wolf's ventilation system. Rumors have been spread that the building will not have air conditioning, but that is not true. All classrooms and the first floor will have air conditioning, but the faculty offices will have something called passive cooling, which is basically a design feature to cool down the building without using power.

The building itself is about two feet narrower than originally planned, though the halls are still wider than those in Whitehorse Hall. The first floor was initially much larger so that the offices in Jackson Center could be incorporated, but those plans had to be cut down due to budget.

As for the actual name of the hall, Gray Wolf, there was a campus wide e-mail sent out that asked students, faculty and staff members for input on what the building should be named. A committee was formed, taking all of the input that those on campus sent in. It was decided that the name Gray Wolf fit the theme naming of EvCC halls after mountainous regions.

Gray Wolf is a ridge located on the northeast corner of the Olympic peninsula.

Check back for an exclusive video tour and photo slideshow of the new building!