Twenty-five students housed on the ground floor of FAMU’s Gibbs Hall dormitory had to be relocated to other campus housing, because of potential structural damage to the dorm. A total of about 15 rooms were affected, encompassing nearly 4,100 sq ft. The damage was discovered in February. The affected area is expected to be closed until Fall 2020.
Sameer Kapileshwari, associate vice president for facilities planning, said other floors in the dorm were not affected, and that Gibbs Hall was safe for occupancy. FAMU has contracted with JRA Architects to determine the extent of the damage and develop a solution to fix it. Gibbs Hall was built in 1955 and last renovated in 1989.
An exact cost for the repairs was not yet available.