Campus construction: BYU to tear down ASB, build new administration building
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- The Abraham O. Smoot Administration Building is pictured Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, at Brigham Young University in Provo.
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- Renderings of a new administration building on Brigham Young University’s campus is shown.
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- A woman walks past the Abraham O. Smoot Administration Building on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, at Brigham Young University in Provo.
The revamping of the center of Brigham Young University’s campus is set to continue into 2028.
As BYU’s new art building continues to take shape, plans to replace the aging Abraham O. Smoot Administration Building immediately to the northwest was approved by the BYU board of trustees, the university announced.
The ASB will be torn down at the end of this year, and work on the new building will immediately follow, with a targeted fall 2028 completion date.
BYU spokesperson Aaron Sorenson told the Daily Herald the 63-year-old ASB has reached the end of its operational life, and is facing seismic, mechanical and electrical issues.
Steve Hafen, administration vice president and CFO, added in a news release that the new facility is a “strategic investment that will further strengthen the student experience by efficiently assisting in enrollment, housing, financial aid and other student services.”
Employees and departments located in the ASB began moving out during the summer. Many will relocate to the former Wasatch Elementary School building on 1090 N and 900 East, known as BYU East.
BYU entered a land exchange with the Provo School District to acquire the old Wasatch Elementary School property in 2021.
BYU spokesperson Todd Hollingshead told the Daily Herald in 2021 that the exchange would allow the school district to rebuild the elementary school in a new location while providing the university with property adjacent to campus facilities.
The new Wasatch Elementary opened in January at 1006 Locust Lane.
The ASB opened on BYU’s campus in 1961 with its unique X-shaped design and housed BYU’s central administrative and student services. A statue of Brigham Young to the south of the building is one of the most recognizable parts of campus.
The new building will continue to house BYU’s central administrative and student services, including admissions, registration, scholarship, legal, housing, communications, counseling and psychological services, employment offices and university administration leadership, according to the university.
