Construction on FAMU's new teaching gym is about 33 percent complete nicely according to contractors and university officials. Last week, the university held a topping off ceremony celebrating the installation of the final beam on the facility's roof.The new four-story facility will be the new home to FAMU’s physical education department and Rattler basketball team, and is scheduled to be completed by February 2009. It will feature sports training and physical education training areas, a hydrotherapy pool, concession stands and ticket booths, interactive learning classrooms, athletic and physical education offices, an indoor track and an arena that will seat more than nine thousand.
The teaching gym will serve as modern teaching classroom for FAMU’s physical education program, not to mention provide a significant venue for attracting concerts, commencements and other entertainment that FAMU has not been able to host in the past.
Gaither Athletic Center, which seats 3,365, is too small to accommodate the FAMU student body for many campus activities including graduation.
Gaither center was built in 1963 at cost of $2 million. When completed, the new facility will seat more than 9,000 people, and cost more than $34 million.
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Thanks Doc Humphries 8 years ago for having the vision to pull this one off.
ReplyDeleteWell I just hope it doesn't take another 8 yrs to build.
ReplyDeleteSo what happened to the original plan of 11,000 seating gym ?
Are there no supplemental dollars to compensate the rise in the cost of materials?
Can we thank Fred Gainous for this?
The gym started out as a $24 M dollar project, and has escalated into a $34 M project.
ReplyDeleteNow with the market depressed, construction cost are down and deals are to be had. But this project got underway during the country's construction boom and the FAMU construction folks aren't exactly known as tough negotiators.
11:03, boy, i tellya...one decent compliment deserves one-thousand negatives. when everything is said and done, James Ammons will be the one who will claim this entire thing. wait and see.
ReplyDeleteAs an alumnus and FAMU parent, I'm excited about the multi purpose gym. It doesn't matter what president is given credit, it's a plus for FAMU. My only regret is that my son will not experience his graduation there (he graduates in April). I'm still very excited for my son and for FAMU. FAMU has been a very pleasant experience for my family. Sometimes I wish I had a younger child so that I can send him to FAMU. It's been real good and I'm going to miss a few things...but not many.lol. My wife and I are active members of FAMU's local alumni chapter and season football ticket holders so we'll be around for awhile. Besides, I'm a financial supporter of FAMU, a classmate of Dr. Ammons, and will be there through thick & thin.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, 3:32.
ReplyDeletethanks for status update. NOW...can we start the campaign to name it something other than the 'famu teaching gym'...that sounds so tacky.
ReplyDeleteThe Athea Gibson Athletic Complex....i beleive this is long over due
ReplyDeleteHansel L. Tookes Teaching Gym - hubba that!
ReplyDeletemore importantly, we are allowed to raise money by naming the doors, offices, etc inside the building. The State will not allow us to name the building after a donor.
ReplyDeleteWhy won't the state allow FAMU to sell the naming rights to the gym?
ReplyDeleteIt should be named the Alfred "Al" Lawson Physical Education Complex. Lawson is the one who's pushed all this funding through the legislature over the past decade.
ReplyDelete