The 1982 Alcalde indicates that the original site of the classroom building was to be the area vacated by the then-recently demolished Education Building.

Renamed in 1990, the Drain Academic Building was constructed in the central part of campus on the site of old residential housing units (the Houston and Rix apartments) and contains 424,348 square feet of classrooms, laboratory space, and offices for departments of the College of Arts and Sciences.