Construction on FAMU's long delayed new teaching gym will begin at the end of the month, according to Charles Lewis III, FAMU's director of construction operations. The gym, which interim president Castell Bryant broke ground on in October 2005, will be constructed on the intramural field next to Howard Hall. The site has seen only minor construction preparations in the past two years has been deemed by students and facutly as "Lake Cast-hell", because since the grass and some dirt was removed it is prone to hold water after a storm.
The Florida Legislature appropriated $31.1 millioin toward the contruction of the new gym ---$1.5 million for planning in 2001, $12.7 million for Phase I in 2003, $14.4 million for Phase II in 2005, and $2.8 million for furniture and equipment in 2006. The university is seeking another $8.8 million in construction money to complete the project.
Lewis said, the university now intends to move forward with Phase I of construction ---ground prep, pouring the foundation, and steel and structural work. FAMU intends to seeks bids for Phase II in the with the next several weeks. Construction could be completed as early as 2008, said Lewis.
The gym is expected to have a seating capacity of 8,994 for basketball games and seat as many as 10,100 for cmmencements.
Where the new gym?
Gym's construction timetable a mystery
I'll believe it when I see it.
ReplyDeleteJust my 2 cents, shouldn't the seating be the other way around? For instance, 10,100 for basketball games and 8,994 for commencements since you wouldn't have people sitting on the "floor"?
ReplyDeleteI vote to bury Castell beneath the first slab of cement and put an American flag on top.
ReplyDeletethe graduating students sit on the floor basketball floor, hence the extra 1100 people.
ReplyDeleteWith this setup, we will have a larger weightroom for the athletes, which should really help with recruiting.
We do not want the hank buried in the gym. It will be forever haunted. We'll be playing and stuff will start flying across the court and stuff.
ReplyDeleteNo, we don't need that bad ghost in there.
Oh, is this just another opportunity for someone in the Admin to steal more of the state's tax dollas? Charging $110 for a chair that costs $78 and charging $15 a sq. ft. for carpet that really costs $5? Look at what they did at the law school, over $100K "missing" in the budget, the desks were never hardwired for laptops, etc.
ReplyDelete