The first building on campus, the Administration building originally included all classrooms, library, faculty offices, administrative offices, and student meeting space. It was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and opened in the fall of 1940. In 1951 it was formally designated Oliver O. Haga Hall but is rarely called by that name.
After becoming a public institution, voters approved a bond on November 14, 1939, which allotted $260,000 for construction of the administration building and heating plant. Tourtellotte and Hummel Architecture designed the building, and construction was completed by contractor J.O. Jordan & Son. The neo-Tudor Gothic style building is two stories tall with a bell tower, and cost $461,229.
There was initial discussion about the building’s location; some stakeholders thought it should face Capitol Boulevard, but instead faces the Boise River. Due to the original plan to make River Road (now Cesar Chavez Boulevard) the main thoroughfare for campus, there are no doors on the south side of building facing University Drive. For a time, there was a horseshoe shaped driveway for parking, which was torn down in the 1960s as the center of campus expanded.
Today, the building remains the center point of campus and houses Administration, the Registrar, and other departments.
Sources:
Eugene Chaffee, Boise College: An Idea Grows
Administration Building File, Historic Boise State
Inventory Sheet, Idaho State Historical Society