The progress being made on the Earth, Energy and Environment Center at the University of Kansas is simply another example of the remarkable transformation ongoing at the state’s flagship university.

The EEEC will house KU’s geology department, as well as part of the chemical and petroleum engineering department. Work began in August 2015 on the $78.5 million, 141,000-square-foot project. It is scheduled to be completed in November 2017, with the first classes to be held in spring 2018.

The EEEC will be a research center for energy development and the environment with opportunities for partnership with industry, university officials said. The department of geology’s work includes studying groundwater, natural resources, environmental cleanup and the impact of climate change, as well as oil, gas and geothermal energy.

Private donations funded about half the center’s cost, with KU funding the other half. The two buildings that make up the center are named for KU alumni with ties to the oil and gas industry, including the late Don Slawson, a 1955 KU graduate who founded a successful oil and gas exploration firm, and 1954 KU graduates Scott and Carol Ritchie. Scott Ritchie founded Ritchie Exploration Inc., an oil and gas exploration company, in 1963.

The EEEC will bring geology labs and classrooms currently spread across multiple buildings under one roof. Joining them will be chemical and petroleum engineering spaces, namely those related to the oil and gas industry.

The EEEC’s design features lots of glass, atriums and collaboration spaces. “The idea is to invite the outside world into our campus,” said Robert Goldstein, KU distinguished professor of geology and associate dean for natural sciences and mathematics. “Everything is visible.”

Some of the features of the new EEEC include a virtual reality cave, the 232-seat Beren Petroleum Center that will be used for lectures and by industry professionals for small conferences, floating meeting rooms enclosed in glass and situated on bridges inside the atrium and multiple labs, faculty offices and conference rooms.

The project was designed by Gould Evans of Lawrence.

The EEEC building is one of several recently completed or ongoing projects that are transforming the university campus. This year, KU opened the $70.5 million Capitol Federal Hall, which houses the School of Business, completed a $6.9 million remodeling project at the Spencer Museum of Art, and began construction on the $350 million Central District project, which includes residential and dining halls as well as the $117 million Integrated Science Building.

The building boom at KU is possible in large part by the five-year, $1.6 billion “Far Above” fundraising campaign. In all, 16 new buildings will be funded by the campaign. All serve to enhance KU’s image, not only in Kansas but across the country.