Audacious Growth

It's an exciting time to be part of Shocker Nation! Our campus has experienced explosive growth in the past few years, with the campus footprint nearly doubling in size. To give you a sense of the pace of change on our campus, here's a timeline of the physical transformation of WSU since 2014.

Timeline

(Major building/facility openings in bold)

2021

  • Social Tap and Creative Kitchen is announced as the third restaurant in the Braeburn Square development
  • The National Institute for Research and Digital Transformation breaks ground near 17th and Oliver

2020

  • Journey Asian Grill opens for business.
  • National Institute for Aviation Research's Advanced Virtual Engineering and Testing Lab (AVET) opens.
  • The Steve Clark YMCA and Student Wellness Center opens.
  • Phase V upgrades to Eck Stadium, including a 10,000-square-foot locker, classroom and fitness facility, are unveiled.
  • WSU Board of Trustees approves next step to create the National Institute for Research and Digital Transformation on the Innovation Campus as part of its new convergence sciences initiative
  • $13.8 million Student-Athlete Success Center opens adjacent to Koch Arena and Cessna Stadium.
  • Woolsey Hall, the new home for the Barton School of Business, breaks ground on the Innovation Campus.
  • The 60,000-square-foot Partnership Building 7, which will be home to Deloitte's The Smart Factory @ Wichita, breaks ground.
  • Hyatt Place at Wichita State University opens for business on the Innovation Campus.
  • Fortune 500 company NetApp breaks ground on it's new 168,000-square-foot Wichita headquarters.
  • To aid in the war against COVID-19, Wichita State opens the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory on South Oliver Street. The MDL which has partnered with more than 500 testing locations in and around Sedgwick County.

2019

  • WSU Bookstore opens a satellite location in Braeburn Square development.
  • National Institute for Aviation Research's Advanced Virtual Engineering and Testing Lab (AVET) building breaks ground.
  • The Suites at WSU, a new residence hall near The Flats at WSU, opens.
  • Partnership Building 3 breaks ground.
  • Hyatt Place hotel breaks ground.
  • A $13.8 million Student-Athlete Success Center breaks ground at Cessna Stadium.
  • Wesley Healthcare announces a new Urgent Care Center to reside in the new on-campus YMCA
  • Fuzzy's Taco Shop opens as the first restaurant tenant in Braeburn Square.
  • The Experiential Engineering Building is renamed the John Bardo Center in honor of the late WSU president.
  • YMCA announces that the name of its WSU location will be the Steve Clark YMCA and Student Wellness Center.
  • Journey Asian Grill is announced as the second restaurant tenant in Braeburn Square.
  • Fortune 500 company NetApp announced it was exploring the relocation of its Wichita operations to WSU's Innovation Campus.

2018

  • The Law Enforcement Training Center opens.
  • Partnership Building 2 opens with Spirit AeroSystems and FirePoint Innovations Center as major tenants.
  • The original Pizza Hut building is relocated and reopened as the Pizza Hut Museum.
  • Plans for Woolsey Hall, a new home for the Barton School of Business, are announced.
  • WSU Tech announces plans to move its Southside Center to East Harry, joining Shocker Studios and WSU South at that facility.
  • Wonder, an independent experiential learning school, opens.
  • WSU Haysville satellite location opens.

2017

  • Experiential Engineering Building (Now John Bardo Center) opens.
  • Airbus Americas Engineering holds a grand opening its new facility.
  • Dassault Systemes holds a ribbon-cutting for its 3DExperience Center inside the Experiential Engineering Building (Now John Bardo Center).
  • GoCreate makerspace holds its grand opening.
  • WSU and Wichita Area Technical College (WATC) receive the final approval needed to form an affiliation. WATC announces plans to change their name to WSU Tech.
  • Shocker Studios, a state-of-the-art professional production space, opens in south Wichita.
  • WSU's first parking garage opens near the Rhatigan Student Center.
  • YMCA and Wichita State announce partnership for a new student wellness center and fitness facility on campus.
  • A free-standing Starbucks opens. First building in Braeburn Square development.
  • The Flats at WSU opens.

2016

  • A four-bay Food Truck Plaza opens near the National Institute for Aviation Research on WSU's main campus. 
  • Plans announced for The Flats at WSU, a 112-unit student housing apartment complex.
  • Plans announced for a $9.5 million Law Enforcement Training Center in partnership with the city of Wichita and Sedgwick County. The facility would house WSU's Criminal Justice program.

2015

  • Airbus announces plans to relocate its Wichita engineering center to a new 90,000-square-foot building on campus.
  • WSU announces plans for a major commitment to downtown Wichita with the creation of WSU Old Town, a complex of community-focused facilities.
  • Plans announced for Braeburn Square, a 20-acre mixed-use development with restaurants, shops and lodging.

2014

  • Shocker Hall, a $65 million student housing complex opens near the center of campus.
  • Koch Global Trading Center opens inside Clinton Hall.
  • Multi-million-dollar renovation of Rhatigan Student Center completed. 
  • Braeburn Golf Course closed to make way for development.
  • Wheatshocker Apartments razed to make way for the Experiential Engineering Building.
  • Kansas Family Business Forum (KFBF) Innovation Hub opens in Devlin Hall.
  • Koch Industries and the Fred & Mary Koch Foundation give $3.75 million for a community makerspace in Experiential Engineering Building. The makerspace would eventually be named GoCreate, a Koch collaborative.