University of Colorado Colorado Springs - History

History

The campus history begins with the creation of Cragmor Sanatorium, which is now Main Hall. In 1902, William Jackson Palmer donated funds to build a sanatorium (a place for treatment, rehabilitation, and therapy for the chronically ill). The Cragmor Sanatorium opened in 1905 and was nicknamed the "Sun Palace" due to its sun-loving architecture. In the following decades it developed a following among the cultural elite and many of its patients were wealthy. However, they were hit hard by the Great Depression in the 1930s and Cragmor suffered from financial distress into the 1940s. It was briefly reinvigorated in the 1950s when a contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs established Cragmor as a treatment center for Navajos with tuberculosis. About ten years later, the Navajo patients were transferred elsewhere. While John Love was the Governor of Colorado, Cragmor became the property of the University of Colorado in 1964.

As early as the 1920s, CU offered classes in the Colorado Springs area at various locations, mostly Colorado College. By the 1960s, however, a permanent campus was desired.

Colorado Governor John Arthur Love and Hewlett-Packard Company co-founder David Packard (whose company had a huge presence in the city) led a drive to establish a permanent home for the university. The solution came when George T. Dwire sold the Cragmor Sanatorium property for $1 to the state.

In 1965 UCCS moved to its current location on Austin Bluffs Parkway in the Cragmor neighborhood of northern Colorado Springs. The campus is located at one of the highest parts of the city.

Because of its ties to HP, initial university programs focused on engineering and business, and classes were held in the Cragmor Sanotorium building, what is now Main Hall, and Cragmor Hall, a modern expansion of Main Hall. The first building built exclusively for UCCS, Dwire Hall, was not complete until 1972.

A 1997 community referendum merged Beth-El College of Nursing with UCCS. In recent years, programs such as the Network Information and Space Security Center were added to connect the university with the military to improve national security. Other programs, including the CU Institute for Bioenergetics and the Institute for Science and Space Studies, cast an eye toward the future.

In 2001 UCCS purchased an 87,000-square-foot (8,100 m2) building at the corner of Union and Austin Bluffs to house the Beth-El College of Nursing.

While on his campaign trail, Presidential Nominee Barack Obama made a stop on the campus. His agenda was helping senators with current Colorado budget issues and answering questions of Colorado voters.