New College to Break Ground on New Academic Center and Plaza, January 26
On Tuesday, January 26, New College of Florida will break ground on the most significant academic building to be constructed on the campus in nearly twenty years. Located at the corner of US 41 and College Drive, the new $11 million signature Academic Center and Plaza, which is scheduled to be completed by fall 2010, will boldly announce the entrance to the state honors college for the liberal arts and sciences to more than 55,000 daily passers-by along Sarasota’s North Tamiami Trail. Members of the New College community, as well as the media and members of the general public who are interested in learning more about New College, are invited to attend the ceremony, which starts at 10:30 a.m.
Designed by internationally-acclaimed architects and urban planners Moule & Polyzoides of Pasadena, California, and constructed by Ajax Building Construction of Florida, the new 35,000 square-foot, LEED-certified facility will contain classrooms, faculty offices and a courtyard café that will be open to the public upon the building’s completion. Funding for the project was provided by the State of Florida.
A key component of New College’s 2006 Campus Master Plan, the new Center and its spacious outdoor plaza, which connects with the Jane Bancroft Cook Library, promises to become a central hub for student activities on the College’s Palmer (or Bayfront) Campus. The Center’s location also will enable the College to maximize the technological developments taking place at the Library under the direction of its new dean, Dr. Brian Doherty. Those developments have been made possible in part thanks to federal funding gained by U.S. Representative Vern Buchanan to help New College develop Smart Library technology at the Jane Bancroft Cook Library.
“As New College prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2010-2011, it seems fitting that we should break ground on a new facility that so proudly proclaims our academic focus and sense of intellectual community,” said New College President Mike Michalson. “This beautiful and highly visible structure, located at the gateway between Sarasota and Manatee counties, will serve as a symbol of the wonderful community support New College has enjoyed ever since our founding in 1960.”
To learn more about the groundbreaking ceremony for New College’s new Academic Center and Plaza, please contact the Office of Public Affairs at (941) 487-4150 or email [email protected]. For information on naming opportunities associated with the Center or other ways that you can help support New College, contact the New College Foundation at (941) 487-4800.