FAMU officials have confirmed that construction is about to begin on the university's Crestview Education Center. A chain link fence now surrounds the center's future home in the downtown Alatex building.FAMU Director of Governmental Relations Tola Thompson told the Crestview News Bulletin that the university recently hired a construction manager and submitted building plans to the City of Crestview.
The project will kick off by the end of July and take ten to 11 months to complete. FAMU expects to begin classes in the Alatex building in Fall 2012.
Former state Sen. Durell Peaden (R-Crestview) steered a total of $11M into FAMU’s budget during the 2009 and 2010 legislative sessions in order to cover the start-up costs for the Crestview Education Center. He also secured $1.5M in recurring money in 2010 for FAMU to use for salaries and operational costs at the center. The current Florida budget grants FAMU another $1.5M to continue funding the campus.
The Crestview center will be FAMU Pharmacy’s first degree-granting satellite location. The pharmacy school’s campuses in Jacksonville, Miami, and Tampa do not offer full degrees. They are used as clinical training divisions for advanced students.