One of the tallest buildings in Ellensburg is the Old Heat plant, the brick building with the smokestack on University Way, across the street from Kamola Hall. The Old Heat  used to generate power for the university, until 1971, which is when the Heating and Cooling Plant north of 11th Ave. and west of D Street replaced it. This is because the Old Heat building used coal to generate power while the new building uses gas.  

Bill Yarwood, CWU Director of Real Estate and Capital Planning, said that the Old Heat plant is a significant building to CWU because of its location near campus and its architectural design. Yarwood said that one of the reasons he took a job at CWU in 1997 was because of the fantastic architecture on campus.

“I don’t think a lot of people realize [the quality of architecture on campus],” Yarwood said.

Yarwood said  the university had been using the building as a storage space until a couple of years ago. It was then cleaned out to be used as a more prominent building by the university, although, there are not any detailed plans on how to use it yet.

“It is a good candidate for an adaptive re-use of some function that really fits into that location on campus,” Yarwood said. “The location’s perfect, it’s a point on the university that I think is kinda like right on the front porch.”

The Old Heat building is one of many that were designed by architect John W. Maloney. Other buildings on campus that were designed by Maloney are Shaw-Smyser Hall, McConnell Auditorium, Hebeler Hall, Lind Hall and the old gymnasium.