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| Architectural rendering of new Dining HUB to be located near new dorms. |
The cost for a new dinning facility under construction next to the new FAMU Towers 700-bed residence hall complex on the south end of campus continues to rise.
According to FAMU Board of Trustee documents the new eatery which is expected be completed later this month will now cost nearly $11 million up from $9.3 million in February.
Just last year FAMU Trustees authorized the university to shift more than $7 million in auxiliary reserves (housing, parking and dining) to complete the facility.
When the new dining facility was initially approved in March 2018, FAMU allowed $2.7 million for its construction. In September 2019, trustees approved another $1.6 million in funding from the auxiliary reserve fund to complete the build out of the interior of the facility and equip it.
The project cost has now ballooned to nearly $11 million.
In September 2018, the Board of Governors – which approved FAMU’s $125 million request to pursue a federal loan to construct the new dorm and other facilities – made clear it was important every step of the planning, finance details and construction schedules are closely monitored.
Last year, board chairman Kelvin Lawson told the Tallahassee Democrat there’s no room for any future financial hiccups in getting the project completed. “We (trustees) are very concerned” about the lack of completeness in the cost projections that have reached this point,” Lawson said.
The new dinning facility was originally scheduled to open this past August/September.