Kelce College of Business

Kelce College of Business at Pittsburg State University: Building the Future of Business Education in Southeast Kansas

Pittsburg, KS

Some buildings are just buildings. Others carry the weight of what a place means to the people who walked its halls, sat in its classrooms, and built careers from what they learned there. The Kelce College of Business at Pittsburg State University is the latter.

Pittsburg State has long been a cornerstone of southeast Kansas, and its business college needed a home that matched its ambitions. The result is a 52,000 SF facility that doesn’t just house a curriculum; it signals to students, faculty, and the broader community that serious investment is being made in their future.

A Design That Belongs Downtown
Located in the heart of Pittsburg, the building was designed with its surroundings in mind. Rather than standing apart from the downtown streetscape, the exterior takes a clean, modern approach that complements the existing urban fabric. It’s a deliberate choice: a business school that’s woven into the community it serves, not isolated from it.

Inside, the building delivers the kind of environment that today’s students and faculty expect. A striking central staircase anchors the interior, and a large-scale video feature adds a dynamic, contemporary energy to the space. The finishes and layout reflect the caliber of education happening within those walls.

Built Smarter, Under Pressure
The project moved forward under a design-build delivery method, which kept the design and construction teams aligned from day one. That coordination proved critical when the team encountered one of the more significant challenges of the project: unsuitable soils discovered more than six feet below grade. Conditions like these can derail a schedule and inflate costs quickly. Instead, the team addressed the issue head-on, adapting the approach without losing momentum.

The result? The project tracked roughly a month ahead of schedule and stayed on budget; no small feat given what was found underground.

Crossland self-performed the finish carpentry, concrete, and steel work, keeping critical scopes under direct control. That hands-on accountability meant tighter coordination, fewer handoffs, and a higher-quality finish across the board. The team also prioritized sustainability throughout construction, incorporating waste reduction practices, material recycling, and energy-efficient systems into the build.

More Than a Building
For some members of the project team, this one carried personal weight. Crossland team members who attended Pittsburg State brought something extra to the job; a firsthand understanding of what this campus means and what this building needed to become.

The Kelce College of Business opened its doors as a facility built to last, designed to inspire, and delivered by a team that understood the stakes.

Project Facts

Industry Sector: Educational
Cost: $25,862,736
Size: 52,000 SF
Delivery Method: Design Build
Self-Perform: Site Utilities, Earthwork, Finish Carpentry, Rough Carpentry, Steel Erection, Concrete
Owner: Pittsburg State University
Architect: Tessere, Inc
Engineer: Integrated Consulting Engineers, Inc.