Associated Press, KSL, Standard Examiner

March 8, 2010 – A $10 million donation will help the University of Utah renovate the historic George Thomas Building after the Utah Museum of Natural History moves out of it.

The university announced Monday that the donation came from Gary L. and Ann S. Crocker.

The building will be transformed into a state-of-the-art center for scientific research and teaching. It will house the Center for Cell and Genome Science, classrooms and laboratories for innovative and interdisciplinary science and math education, and College of Science headquarters.

The Crocker donation is the lead gift for a $75 million project that is expected to begin construction in 2012. The new facility will be named The Gary L. and Ann S. Crocker Science Center at the George Thomas Building.

When completed in 2014, the sciences and the arts will frame the university’s main entryway, with the new Crocker Science Center on the south side of Presidents Circle opposite the newly renovated David P. Gardner Hall, which houses the School of Music.

The Thomas building currently houses the Utah Museum of Natural History, which will be moving to a new building near Red Butte Canyon.