When the University of Utah joined the PAC-12 in June 2010, it meant that not only would the U need to upgrade its athletic facilities to keep pace with other 'big-boy' conference schools, it would require other new world-class, state-of-the-art facilities as a way of bolstering the collective image of the entire 1,530-acre campus in Salt Lake City.

Whatever it takes to catch the eye of the next four-star football or basketball
recruit, given that conference schools are benefitting from an expected take of
more than $20 million each annually from lucrative TV revenues.

Two new buildings illustrate the high level of complexity of design and construction being done at the University of Utah campus. Both the George S. Eccles Student Life Building and the Ray and Tye Noorda School of Dentistry involved lengthy processes from fund raising to design to final completion in January, but were well worth the wait, said Barbara Snyder, VP of Student Affairs at the U…