Boise’s Wassmuth education center building to be named in honor of former Gov. Phil Batt

The new education center for Boise’s Wassmuth Center for Human Rights will be named the Philip E. Batt Building to honor the former Republican governor and his work promoting human rights in Idaho, the center announced Thursday in a press release.

“The one-of-a-kind human rights education center will be a ‘beacon of light’ in the heart of Idaho’s capital city,” said Dan Prinzing, the center’s executive director, in a press release. “In the center’s work to foster a climate and culture of upstanders who embrace respect, compassion, equality and justice for all, Gov. Batt’s life and legacy is a commitment to human rights.” 

The two-story education center will be adjacent to the Anne Frank Memorial in downtown Boise.

Construction on the Wassmuth Center’s Philip E. Batt Building will begin in mid-October with a projected open date of August 2023. The center’s Building Our Future campaign to fund construction of the project has raised $4.7 million with a goal of $5.5 million, according to the press release.

Batt, born in Wilder, Idaho, served as Idaho’s governor from 1995 to 1999. Batt also served as chairman of the Idaho Republican Party, lieutenant governor and as a member of the Idaho Legislature in the state House and Senate. Batt’s contributions to human rights in Idaho include sponsoring the creation of the Idaho Human Rights Commission, and as governor, pushing through landmark legislation to cover Idaho’s Hispanic farm workers under the state’s workers compensation program, according to the press release.