Appalachian State University - Campus

Campus

Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northwestern North Carolina, Appalachian State University has one of the highest elevations of any university in the United States east of the Mississippi River, at 3,333 feet (1,016 m). The university's main campus is in downtown Boone, a town that supports a population of 13,328, compared to a total ASU enrollment of 15,871 students. The campus encompasses 1,300 acres (5.3 km2), including a main campus of 410 acres (1.7 km2) with 21 residence halls, four dining facilities, 19 academic buildings, and 11 recreation/athletic facilities.

The center of campus is nicknamed Sanford Mall, an open grassy quad between the student union, dining halls, and library. Sanford Hall, located on the mall's edge, is named for Terry Sanford, a former governor of the state. Rivers Street, a thoroughfare for town and university traffic, essentially divides the campus into east and west sections with underground tunnels and a pedestrian bridge connecting the two halves. The eastern half includes Sanford Mall, Plemmons Student Union, the Central Dining Hall, and Belk Library, along with two communities of residence halls, Eastridge and Pinnacle. The campus on the west side has Trivette Dining Hall, the Student Recreation Center (or SRC), the Quinn Recreation Center, Kidd Brewer Stadium, and Stadium Heights and Yosef Hollow, the two remaining residence hall communities. At the north end of campus, Bodenheimer Drive crosses over Rivers Street and leads to Appalachian Heights (an apartment-style residence hall), Mountaineer Hall, the Chancellor's House, The Living Learning Center, the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center, and Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. The George M. Holmes Convocation Center, located at the south end of Rivers Street is the gateway and entrance to campus.

The Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, located on the edge of main campus, is the university's visual art center. The Turchin Center is the largest visual arts center in northwestern North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southwestern Virginia. It displays rotating exhibits indoors and outdoors, some exhibits being culturally specific to the Appalachians, and offers community outreach programs through art courses. Farthing Auditorium, a 1,734 seat performance venue, hosts artists from around the world.