The Building was the first new building of the Grand Rapids Junior College, which until then had only bought repurposed older, existing buildings. It initially housed general purpose classrooms, tech and health education labs, a library, a Student Center, two lower floors of parking and the offices of Grand Rapids' Board of Education. (GRJC was part of the Grand Rapids school system back then.) It cost $3.3 million. It is a reinforced concrete structure with column, joist and pan construction. The façades feature an unusual mix of protruding beams and flat exposed concrete finishes, which segment the large, boxy volume into smaller parts. Special thanks to the Grand Rapids Community College

Renamed in 2006 into "Peter and Pat Cook Academic Hall", renovated 2007–2014, rededicated in 2014.