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Ahead of President Luke Wood’s annual fall address last month, Sacramento State officials teased that he would make a “historic announcement that will have lasting impacts for generations of future Hornets.”
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The big reveal, unveiled towards the end of Wood’s hour-long speech, was that the university had secured $150 million to build a new engineering building that will replace 66-year-old Santa Clara Hall. According to officials, it will house laboratories and facilities dedicated to several academic programs within the College of Engineering and Computer Science, including civil engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, mechanical engineering and construction management.
“The College of Engineering and Computer Science is one of Sacramento State’s signature strengths, and this building will ensure that our learning environments match our students’ talent and ambition,” Wood said. “This new building will allow us to increase the number of engineers, construction managers, and computer scientists that our university graduates each year.”
This multimillion commitment marks the largest funding amount secured for a single building project in Sacramento State’s history. Of the $147 million that will go towards this long desired project, philanthropist Ernest E. Tschannen committed $15 million to name it the Ernest E. Tschannen Engineering Teaching and Research Building. Earlier, in 2022, Tschannen had announced a $10 million donation for the planned engineering replacement building. At that time, CSU trustees approved naming the eventual building after him.
Tschannen, the university’s 101-year-old top donor, also gave Sacramento State $9 million for its Ernest E. Tschannen Science Complex which opened in 2019 and houses the university’s planetarium.
The rest of the funding for the engineering building — $131.9 million — is an allocation from the California State University system as part of its 2026-2027 budget. It will be paid for through bonds issued by the system likely in 2027. The CSU uses a systemwide debt financing program to fund its facilities needs. It draws on revenues including student housing fees, parking fees, health center facility fees and continuing education fees to pay off the debt.
This year, thanks to a healthy budget allocation from the state, the CSU Board of Trustees decided to advance some capital projects. The board allocated $50 million in the system’s 2026-2027 budget to support $600 million in bonds. Half of that money is going to about 90 maintenance projects across the system’s 22 campuses. The other $300 million has been allotted to two major capital projects, one of which is Sacramento State’s engineering building.
Sacramento State’s project has been near the top of CSU’s priorities for years. In its annually prepared capital outlay plan, approved by the CSU board last year, the engineering building had reached the second spot on the priority list. According to Sacramento State officials, they have been advocating for the building for two decades.
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Santa Clara Hall was built in 1960 and never been renovated. The building systems, including heating and cooling, electrical and telecommunications, had exceeded their useful life, Sacramento State said in a November 2025 report to lawmakers. As a result, the building needed upgrades and repairs exceeding $24 million. A 2024 report with more details said the hall’s , lacked appropriate ventilation and safety equipment, and did not meet current energy, safety and accessibility codes. The cabinets and countertops too had deteriorated, the report said.
“The design of these facilities is also unsuitable to support advances in instructional technology that have occurred since they were constructed,” it concluded.
The details we know so far
The new building is set to not only construct up-to-date labs and faculty offices, but also address the need for more instructional space. According to the 2024 report, the school’s current engineering labs can only accommodate 74% of projected student enrollment in 2029-2030 and the school is short on faculty offices. The new building will aim to accommodate more students than Santa Clara Hall while also adding about 20 faculty offices.
The College of Engineering and Computer Science is currently home to approximately 5,000 students and more than 35,000 alumni, offering six bachelor’s and five master’s degree programs.
While school officials have said that project details, including plans for single-story Santa Clara Hall, are not yet available, the proposal sent to state legislators in 2024 suggests what can be expected. According to that report, school officials were planning to demolish Santa Clara Hall and construct the new engineering building in its place. The new building, per that report, would be three stories tall and occupy about 100,000 square feet.
“We still need to go through the design-build process and fully design the engineering building, so we don’t know the exact square footage yet,” said Sacramento State spokesperson Michelle Willard in an email last week. “Our goal is to build the best engineering building possible for our students, faculty, staff, and the final size will be determined through the design process.”
Construction will begin after Sacramento State receives its allocation from the CSU’s bond proceeds and completes the required planning processes. For now, the school is planning to soon issue a request for proposals from vendors for building design. The engineering college also plans to work with industry partners, alumni and community leaders on the scope of the project over the next few months.
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