Dedicated in October 1988, Anderson Commons was built as a new dining hall. A. Harold Anderson served as Chairman of the Board and President of J. Emil Anderson & Son, Inc, and an industrial-commercial land development construction organization headquartered in DesPlaines, IL. Beginning with the construction of Centennial Gymnasium in 1959, his company had been responsible for the design and construction of about 75% of the buildings on the Wheaton College campus, particularly those build between 1959 and 1981. Anderson Commons was a gift to the college from the Anderson family. In 2004 the facility was renovated and fully finished. Anderson Commons became a portion of the Todd M. Beamer Center, honoring one of the heroes of the tragic United Flight 93, brought down during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.