Albany State University Early Learning Center and Residence Hall Groundbreaking Ceremonies
ALBANY, Ga. – Albany State University (ASU) implements the development of two new facilities that integrate early learning and student residency.
The university marked a significant day with two groundbreaking ceremonies. The first celebrated the start of construction for their new Early Learning Center.
Just an hour later, a second ceremony took place nearby to officially launch the development of a new Residence Hall for students.
“So, this is about a $3 million project. The Residence Hall is about an $8.8 million project. And, those two projects combined have taken us a few years to get not only on the drawing board, but get them approved through the proper channels and of course, get them designed and bring it to this day where the design and the construction will take just about a year and a half to complete,” said Dr. Lawrence Drake, Interim President, Albany State University.
The Early Learning Center, named in honor of ASU’s first female president, Dr. Portia Holmes-Shields, will offer safe and affordable child care services to both the campus and surrounding community.
In addition, students from select majors will have the opportunity to engage in student teaching activities.
“She left an indelible mark on the institution. Her achievements here, her fundraising capability, her commitment to student achievement. And, we think naming this center after her is a fabulous way, in some small way, actually, to say thank you and to say we appreciate you and that we want students that come here and alumni who have been here and this city to appreciate the contribution that she made,” said Dr. Drake.
Dr. Lawrence Drake, Interim President of Albany State University, outlined the vision and objectives driving both projects.
“Both obviously have a significant impact on what we do in our mission. If we talk about ELC in particular, we had outgrown the center that we are in today. That also went into the decision. But, the bigger point was how do we actually be the catalyst for 21st century learning capability of our students? How do we combine that with the needs of a community for child care? And, more importantly, how do both of those sort of come together. Prepping the students and the teachers who will essentially be part of the learning ecosystem for the foreseeable future,” said Dr. Drake.
Dr. Lawrence Drake addresses the university’s housing needs as a part of the vision for campus growth.
“Many people will say, well, you don’t, you know, we always hear that there’s not enough housing and it’s limited housing. Well, those two narratives are out there and this building represents that we will need more housing infrastructure. We just finished a housing study last year and we are projecting what kind of housing needs we’re going to have and that those things must be in concert with forecasting the enrollment that we want to have. Also how that actually creates the opportunity for ASU to be not just a campus that is residential, but also the online campus that we have as well,” said Dr. Drake.
The university aims to have construction completed for these projects by Fall of next year.
De’Andra Jacobs reporting.
Copyright 2024 CBS 44 South Georgia. All rights reserved.
