The 200-acre campus of Lock Haven University, west of the center of the city, opened as the Central State Normal School in 1870. In 1961, the coeducational institution converted from a teacher-training college to a four-year liberal arts university. Today, about 4,600 students are enrolled on the main campus. For the most part, the school is composed of rectangular, flat-roofed, orange or red brick buildings of the 1950s. The two most significant exceptions are the Rogers Gymnasium and the Price Performance Center.
The Rogers Gymnasium, the oldest building on campus, was designed in 1896 by Amos S. Wagner for Wagner and Reitmeyer from Williamsport. Its residential appearance is highlighted by the round-arched dormer and second-story windows. The Price Performance Center, designed in 1938 by Philadelphia firm Tilden and Pepper with Karcher and Smith, is red brick with Art Deco elements. Its interior was modernized and converted into a performance center by Pittsburgh architects Jacob Gzesh and Associates in 1987. The building creates a small quadrangle with the Colonial Revival Sullivan and Russell halls. The newest addition to the campus is the red brick Durrwachter Alumni Conference Center at Fairview and Water streets (2007–2008, MacLachlan, Cornelius and Filoni), with its glass-enclosed entrance facing the corner.