SAN MARCOS - A new meeting venue planned for the Cal State San Marcos campus will be larger and more elaborate now that a family from Pauma Valley has increased its donation for the project from $2.3 million to $4.3 million, university officials said Tuesday.

The McMahan family of Pauma Valley recently decided to donate an extra $2 million so that the university would not have to "cut corners" on the project, according to Rick Keith, vice president for university advancement. Keith said the decision was made when the family, which operated McMahan Furniture in Carlsbad for 45 years, saw some preliminary drawings.

"The McMahans told us they didn't want to cut corners," said Keith. "They felt that in order to have the kind of facility that had been envisioned, we would need more resources."

The family, which at one time owned more than 100 stores in the western United States, declined a request for an interview.

The meeting facility, which is slated to open in January 2009 on a large knoll near the campus entrance, will now include two extra meeting spaces: one inside a 35-foot tower and another that will be tucked into a hillside, said Keith.

"It will feature some of the most unique meeting spaces in North County," said Keith. "This will be a great place for the campus and the community to interact."

The added features will increase the square footage from roughly 3,500 to more than 4,300, according to university officials.

The new meeting spaces will be constructed along with a previously planned grand dining room that could seat up to 100 people and a cozy library that could seat up to 20, said Russ Decker, the university's director of planning, design and construction. The buildings will be constructed around a large courtyard with a fireplace and barbecue pit, said Decker.

Other upgrades include an expansion of the catering kitchen, special paneling for the walls of the library and enhanced landscaping for the 4-acre parcel where the facility will be built, Decker said.

Keith said the university plans to host parties, fundraisers and other gatherings in the facility. The facility will probably also be available to the public for weddings and other events, said Keith, explaining that procedures and fees for using the McMahan House will be determined during construction of the project, which is scheduled to begin in October.

The entire cost of the project will be $4.75 million. Decker said the university will pay about $400,000 for some infrastructure, including a driveway leading from Twin Oaks Valley Road to the site.

University officials said the facility will provide much-needed meeting space to the campus, which has a scarcity of large venues for events and parties.

Heather Manley, director of alumni and parent relations at the university, said she hopes to host many alumni events at the McMahan House when it opens.

"It's going to be a great opportunity because it will be so different and unique," said Manley. "Having events on campus allows our alumni to reconnect in a whole different way."

The university's first alumni celebration was held in Fallbrook last March, partly because there is no space on campus large enough to host such events, said Manley.

The problem will only get worse as the number of alumni from the growing university continues to increase exponentially, she said. More than 7,000 students have graduated in the past three years, which is more than 37 percent of the 19,000 graduates since the university was founded in 1989.

The McMahan House will be constructed on the site where the Prohoroff family residence was located when the university was occupied by a chicken ranch for many years, said Decker.

The architect is Rob Quigley, who designed the new county library in downtown San Diego and who has handled a variety of affordable housing complexes in the region.

- Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 740-5468 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.