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Smittcamp Alumni House ground breaking set

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Architectural rendering by The Taylor Group displays the Southern plantation-inspired architecture for the Smittcamp Alumni House, which will be located on land that is currently part of Parking Lot C.

by Tom Uribes


The university's Alumni Association roars into the fall semester with two major projects that it hopes will spark the support of the campus community: construction of the Smittcamp Alumni House and a Welcome Home fund raising campaign to help complete and furnish the house.

The $1.9 million Smittcamp Alumni House - which will be the largest in the state system - is expected to be complete in fall 1999. Ground breaking ceremonies are scheduled to coincide with this year's Homecoming on Sept. 26.

Charles Small, president of the Alumni Association, said the house will bring the campus and community together.

"We are extremely excited about having an alumni house on campus," Small said. "We believe it's going to add new energy to alumni participation on campus and will be a magnet to draw alumni back. We feel we'll get quite a bit of community participation."

The 10,000-square-foot structure will become a reality thanks to a $1 million donation last year by
Earl and Muriel Smittcamp.

The Welcome Home campaign to raise $900,000 for interior finishing details and furnishings will begin Aug. 25.

In March, the CSU trustees approved naming the building after Earl and Muriel Smittcamp, who own Wawona Orchards. The Clovis-based company produces fresh and frozen foods. The Smittcamps and their four children, Betsy (Kimball), Carol (Copeland), Bill and Robert, are all graduates of Fresno State.

The alumni house will be built in two phases with the Smittcamp gift and campaign funds financing the first phase. The two-story first phase will include the association's offices, conference rooms, a small kitchen, reception and social areas, a computer training room, garden courtyards and an alumni library.

The second phase is a 2,000-square-foot, single-story addition that will house a banquet hall/ballroom, an enlarged kitchen and additional restrooms and meeting rooms.

"The second phase depends on availability of funds to continue construction," said Jacqui Glasener, interim director of the Fresno State Alumni Association.

The Smittcamp Alumni House will be located southeast of the Joyal Administration Building near the Allergy Free Garden. The front portico will face south.

According to architect Russ Taylor, the new house will feature warm, inviting interiors, residential-style furnishings, hardwoods and spacious public areas with garden vistas.

The new alumni house will be only the second newly built alumni house in the CSU system.
"CSU Sacramento is also scheduled to break ground for a house this summer; however, Fresno State's will be larger," Glasener said. "Other universities within the system have older, existing structures for their alumni houses."

Dr. Peter Smits, vice president for university advancement, said the Smittcamps' devotion and support of the university with the alumni house donation will bolster alumni pride on this campus for generations to come.

"Alumni are the fruits of our labor at Fresno State and an important resource to both the university and the community," he said. "The alumni house can help create a bond between our grads and the university community, the result of which will have a far-ranging impact on campus life."

Donors to the Welcome Home campaign will have the opportunity to name any of 17 spaces on the first and second floor of the first phase. Named areas range from second-floor office spaces at $25,000 to the first-floor gallery/hallway at $300,000 or the courtyard at $500,000. Other spaces include the library at $150,000, the grand foyer at $175,000 and the computer assistance area at $75,000.