[3] Executed in the Queen Anne mode, the building is three stories in height on a high basement; a square tower at the northwest corner dominates the entry.

Dominant features include the multi-gabled roof, high double-hung windows, panels of patterned brick, and iron cresting with weather vane on the tower.

[5] The University asked the state for $21,000,000 in funding, however, a bonding bill proposed by then governor Mark Dayton did not include money allocated for the project.

Though Ellis was inspired by the aesthetic of Henry Hobson Richardson, the building also contains elements of the Prairie School, Arts and Crafts, Gothic, and Victorian styles.

The clay tile roof and copper eaves serve to protect the sandstone from the infiltration of water, and they also add to the appearance of the building.

[9] Reflecting its earthen architectural elements, the building housed the Newton Horace Winchell School of Earth Sciences until 2017.

[11] In 1921, the School's dean, Everett Fraser complained that the classrooms were inadequate and that the library space was too flammable, as seen with the prior burning of Old Main in 1904.

Pattee Hall was left empty until 1947, when it became the home to the University Elementary School, until its departure in 1965,[12] leaving the building vacant once again.

In 1985, the Institute on Community Integration moved in and has remained there since,[2] alongside the Department of American Indian Studies, which joined them in 2024 after the building underwent a renovation.

While much of the building's Richardsonian Romanesque exterior was restored during the project, new Art Nouveau motifs were introduced throughout the interior.

[16] In 2019, a University task force suggested removing Edward E. Nicholson's name from the building, due to his anti-Semitic beliefs,[17] along with his efforts to suppress political speech and student activism.

President William Watts Folwell first consulted with LeRoy Buffington on a library design, but the Regents overruled him.

Historic features such as stair treads and banisters, paneled doors, arched ceilings, and terra cotta facade were preserved during the project.

The building was later used for the University High School until its relocation to Peik Hall, and ultimately became the home of the Institute of Child Development.

[3] In 2020, a $42,000,000 grant for an addition and renovation was approved by the state,[28] covering two thirds the cost of the project, with the rest being funded by donors.

Today, the building currently houses the Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences department[32] and a rock with a plaque commemorating the former Old Main sits in the front.

[33] Designed in the Jacobethan Revival style by Minnesota State Architect Clarence H. Johnston, it was built to house departments displaced after the burning of Old Main in 1904.

These included the Pedagogy, Oratory, and Psychology departments, as well as the Alumni Magazine, German Museum, Gopher Yearbook, and Minnesota Daily.