The first institute, which led to the Lancaster County Normal School and received significant support from Thomas H. Burrowes, was held in January 1853.

November 5, 1855, marked the start of the first full session, with a new expansion of the original Academy building that made 96 rooms available for nearly 200 students and their teachers.

The executive committee of the Board of Trustees designated $27,500 for the construction of the library in 1891, with the contract awarded to Lancastrian D.H. Rapp, who submitted the lowest bid in a blind auction.

Equipped with solar panels, state-of-the-art energy-efficient glass, and an interior design inspired by feng shui principles, the Lombardo Welcome Center will produce as much energy as it consumes.

[16] Built as an expansion of Lyte Auditorium in Alumni Hall,[17] the new Charles R. and Anita B Winter Visual and Performing Arts Center has a new entrance off Cottage Avenue in Millersville.

Named for local philanthropist Charles Winter, whose daughters are both Millersville graduates,[18] The new Visual and Performing Arts Center, a $26 million construction and renovation project,[19] enhances the original 29,041-square-foot building of 700 seats with a 59,452-square-foot addition.

Located on North Prince Street at the end of Lancaster's Gallery Row, the center is part of the Millersville University's Department of Visual & Performing Arts.

[22][23] Originally designed by architect Philip Johnson, the $32 million building opened in 2008 as the home of the now defunct Pennsylvania Academy of Music.