Fond memories prompted an alumnus to donate $1 million for the renovation of Morrill Hall, an ISU landmark.

Lyle and Nancy Campbell, of Paradise Valley, Ariz., gave the donation in hopes of preserving the building. Lyle Campbell is a 1966 graduate in agricultural business.

Lyle Campbell said the couple made the donation “because it is where it all began [with U.S. Sen. Justin Morrill] and is a symbol of what Iowa State stands for.”

Iowa State was the first land-grant university formed under of the terms of the senator’s Morrill Act.

The couple is also co-chairing the Morrill Hall Leadership Committee with President Gregory Geoffroy and his wife, Kathy.

“We feel very strongly for the need to preserve Morrill Hall and preserve the heritage of Iowa State,” Lyle Campbell said. “All of us who graduated [from Iowa State] feel strongly about the contribution Iowa State has made to our lives.”

This donation is the biggest part of the $2.9 million raised so far for Morrill Hall, said Sarah Buck, vice president for administration at the ISU University Foundation. This means the Foundation is almost one-third of the way to the amount needed to renovate Morrill Hall, she said.

Geoffroy announced in August the university would need about $9 million to renovate the 112-year-old Morrill Hall.

Buck said the proposed fund-raising schedule was set for 18 months, making the completion sometime during 2004.

Buck said she cannot say for sure if the Foundation will make its goal.

Warren Madden, vice president for Business and Finance, said the renovation proposal was approved at Thursday’s Board of Regents meeting. The next step is to find an architect to head the project design.

The exterior of Morrill Hall will not be changed but will be restored, Madden said. The interior will be much more modernized.

“It can be a fine structure,” Madden said. “A comparable project would be Catt Hall.”

Lyle Campbell said one memory his family cherishes of Morrill Hall is a photograph taken in 1966.

“This was a time in our lives when we didn’t have much in assets. We were about to finish ISU with a lot of hope [for the future],” Campbell said.

The renovated building will include areas for the University Museums Art on Campus Program and the Christian Petersen Collection, the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Center for Visual Learning in Textiles and Clothing.

Jane Farrell-Beck, university professor in textiles and clothing, said the renovated Morrill Hall will have a conservation lab for preserving textiles, storage for both the University Museums and textiles and clothing, and a high-tech classroom with room for 75 students and office space.

Farrell-Beck said the donation is “truly exciting.”

She said in addition to being a better and more intimate setting for students, it may be an attraction for possible faculty.

“As we look to recruiting new faculty, it will be a marvelous new facility,” Farrell-Beck said.