The center was built using solely donations to the Alumni Association with Roy & Bobbi Reiman donating $9 million toward the building's construction.

[2] On the east side of the building sits a statue of Iowa State University's mascot Cy'.

It was designed by Michael D'Ambrosi and is the only sculpture of the school's mascot on campus.

[2] The building, which was in the plans for over 30 years, was architecturally designed to resemble parts of Iowa State University campus.

[2] The building is part of Iowa State's "Live Green!"