FAMU President James H. Ammons personally initiated the demolition of the old Polkinghorne Village yesterday with a series of mallet blows to the roof and exterior wall.Polkinghorne, which has been closed since 2004, sits next to the Student Services Center and Bragg Memorial Stadium. The old building is being completely torn down to make way for a brand new facility.
"We want to be 15,000 students over the next five years. One of the problems that we have in recruiting students to the university is the condition of our existing housing stock," Ammons told The FAMUan. "This is the beginning. It's going to allow us to begin closing other residential halls maybe renovating or demolishing them."
Back in August 2011 Rattler Nation reported that FAMU has pared millions from the original estimated price tag of $63M by adding two stories to the design. FAMU Chief Financial Officer Teresa Hardee told The FAMUan that the revised total cost should be no more than $48M.
The two additional stories will save money by reducing the total number of buildings in the complex. That will generate even more savings by opening space to place the required storm water runoff controls on the property’s surface, as opposed to the more expensive option of using an underground system.