Demolition of the Otto Olsen building was completed this week.
After spending more than two decades on the state’s capital construction replacement list, Otto Olsen was replaced by the LaVonne Kopecky Plambeck Early Childhood Education Center that opened in fall 2019, an addition to the Fine Arts Building and Discovery Hall, a state-of-the-art STEM facility that opened in fall 2020.
The former vocational and industrial arts building opened in 1955 and was named after Otto C. Olsen in 1961. A graduate of the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney, Olsen joined the school’s staff in 1919 and retired in 1957. He was chairman of the Vocational Arts Division and Industrial Arts Department and a pioneer in the field of driver education.
Most recently, the Otto Olsen building housed UNK’s industrial technology and cyber systems departments, as well as the Child Development Center and glass/sculpture studio.
The site will be used for parking and green space.
PHOTOS BY ERIKA PRITCHARD, UNK COMMUNICATIONS
