By: Jefferson Walker V
Florida A&M University (FAMU) broke ground for construction of a new 700-bed student residence hall due to be open for students arriving in fall 2025.
FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., was joined by Chancellor Ray Rodrigues, Board of Trustees (BOT) Chair Kristin Harper, members of the FAMU Senior Leadership Team, representatives of the contractor FINFROCK Construction, students, and staff for the midday Monday, April 22 ceremony at West Osceola Street and South Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The new construction is latest phase in the masterplan to replace the demolished dormitories with new student residence halls, with modern amenities. The first phase, FAMU Towers, was completed in August 2020.
“We are really proud of the team who worked hard to put this together,” said President Robinson, acknowledging the efforts of the Division of Finance and Administration, Division of Academic Affairs, Division of Student Affairs, and the U.S. Department of Education’s HBCU Capital Finance Program Office, to help create modern housing facilities for future students. “We are really excited about this 700-bed residence hall opening in fall semester 2025.”
The area being transformed previously served as a gravel parking lot just north of the FAMU Towers and the Hub dining facility.
“Today is another great chapter in FAMU’s history,” said BOT Chair Harper. “Students will make memories, lifelong friends, graduate, and go into the world and strike like Rattlers do.”
Chancellor Rodrigues said the importance of the new facility can’t be overstated.
“This is a very big deal for FAMU,” said Rodrigues. “Every study that’s been done shows that students who reside on campus are more likely to be academically successful. The more housing that FAMU has to reach its target, the more they place their students in places to ultimately be successful.”
After the new construction is complete in 2025, there will be 3,300 beds on campus, including two apartment complexes that the University acquired during the past 18 months. That will put the University well on the way to its goal of reaching more than 4,000 on-campus beds for student housing.
In March, the FAMU BOT approved a contract with JRA Architects of Tallahassee for engineering and architecture services for a 500-bed, mixed use facility that will be built where Paddyfote residence hall once stood. The BOT also approved architects for a five-story, 800-bed mixed use structure that will be constructed on land vacated by the demolition of Palmetto North.
Anticipation is high among students and the resident hall assistants are sure this will make FAMU even more attractive to incoming students.
“To a potential new student, having new amenities and new housing makes the school more interesting to see,” said Chloe Denis, Miss RHA.
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