• Increasingly sophisticated equipment needs for teaching and research, such as electron microscopes and lasers, and an increase in the number of disciplines that needed them;
• A technology newcomer whose potential was just beginning to be realized - the Internet;
• An explosion in the number of electronic devices needed just to perform everyday tasks - personal computers, fax and answering machines, color photocopiers and so on - and their corresponding impact on the utilities infrastructure;
• An equally huge increase in the number of electronic appliances and personal computers in the residence halls;
• A national lifestyle change in which sharing bedrooms and bathrooms was no longer the norm for families, resulting in students who prefer or expect the same in the residence halls;
• Increased personal use of the automobile by students, especially by lower level students;
• Changes in state and federal building codes and standards, including fire protection, barrier-free access, environmental hazards and indoor air quality, to name just a few.

While the State of Michigan had regulated barrier-free design in new public buildings since1966, the July, 1990 federal civil rights legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, put accessibility issues in the forefront in all public facility design, construction, and maintenance projects. Building remodeling and/or renovation was often necessary to ensure compliance with the ADA, and new building designs would be scrutinized carefully.

By the mid-90's the global impact of the "world wide web" was just starting to be felt. This invention, along with new, more powerful and smaller computers, generated a technology revolution that in less than a decade would turn traditional teaching and research methods upside-down, as well as putting a few more electronic devices in everyone's briefcase or backpack. Unfortunately, the cost of adopting all this new technology - the dollars, labor and energy needed to install, implement and operate - was staggering. Deciding how to set priorities between basic building needs - "bricks and mortar" - and the almost limitless possibilities of all the emerging technologies dominated facilities issues.

Throughout the 1990's Western conducted an aggressive campaign to replace and renovate it's aging classroom buildings, most of which were built in the 50's and 60's and were overdue for 'refreshening'. The 1994 Campus Map shows the new Student Recreation Center (a remodel and addition to the Gary Physical Education Center), the expanded and remodeled Waldo Library, and the new University Computing Center (on the site of the demolished Maybee Hall). Wood Hall was undergoing total renovation as well, and the adjacent outline of the new science research building is shown. Campus amenities were enhanced by the additional of a parking ramp and bridge to Miller Auditorium. The Shaw Theatre area was expanded and remodeled as well, and is now the Irving S. Gilmore Center. Walwood was extensively renovated, becoming Walwood Hall, home to the McKee Alumni Center and the Departments of Public Administration and Medieval Studies.

The Carl and Winifred Lee Honors College building was completed in 1990, symbolically located in the center of campus. The new College of Business building, Schneider Hall, was finished in 1991.