Western Kentucky University has a new addition to campus this fall, a brand new building for the Gordon Ford College of Business.

The project cost around $100 million, with 75 million coming from the Kentucky General Assembly.

Our Emily Sisk toured the new space and talk with the university president about how they're meeting the business demands of Bowling Green.

It has been a long time coming, a long time coming, but worth the wait for Western Kentucky University to unveil its new home for the Gordon Ford College of Business.

WKU president Doctor Timothy Carbone explained why now was the time for the new building.

For 20 years, WKU has been talking about a new home for Gordon Ford, and we needed to make that a reality because to be honest, Gordon Ford is our fastest growing college and we want to accelerate that.

This coming fall, we will have the highest number of students in the College of Business in history at WKU to serve the record breaking student population.

The new building is equipped with spaces to bring the corporate world to campus.

We have a sales laboratory where they get to practice selling that gets caught on video and folks can observe.

We've got a wonderful trading lab where they can actively trade stocks and bonds, and a real life ticker that shows them kind of how the market's moving at any given moment.

Another element of the new facility is a one stop student Success center, where resources are in one place rather than scattered throughout the building.

From academic advising to tutoring.

Our center for Financial Success is there, as well as our suited for success clothes closet, so our students can get access to all the resources they need in one spot.

Some upperclassmen, like Jamie Smith, will have the opportunity to finish out their college career in the new structure.

Smith said he remembers seeing construction take place during his sophomore year.

Now, as a senior, he described what it's like to set foot in the new building.

It's special.

A lot of the people in my class, we were we were hoping that we would get to see this space when it was announced, and I'm going to get to spend three semesters here.

Smith as an accounting student in the College of Business.

He also works in the dean's office, which has given him an up close look at the entire process.

I've been here helping move in.

I've.

I've seen the whole planning process over the last couple of years.

The thought that's gone into this place, Dean Thrasher said.

Much thought also went into the outside of the building.

She explained how they wanted to maintain WKU signature architecture style while putting a modern twist on the interior.

We would love to have collegiate Georgian on the outside, so that it looks like it's always been here, and it's truly a part of WKU inside.

We want it to feel like an Apple Store.

We want it to be very modern.

We want it to feel like the business community that we serve.

And what is the business community?

WKU serves President Gabel, and he said it starts local right in Bowling Green and then heads south.

What we want to make sure we're able to do is create the students and the workforce that we need here in the region, but also address the needs south of us in Nashville.

While the new building has all the tools they need, the dean said it's now time to put in the work.

Now it's up to us to make sure that what happens inside the building matches the quality of the building.

The building will open to students on August 18th, the first day of the fall semester for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Emily Sisk.

Thank you so much, Emily.

The new building was officially named last Friday.

Amy and David Chandler Hall will be the new namesake after the Chandler's donated more than $7 million for the project.

The husband and wife duo are both alumni of WQ.