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New regional USF campus project takes it up a notch

Construction crews and crane will mount upper-floor walls this week; Campus CEO Laurey Stryker and USF S-M students will visit site to monitor progress

SARASOTA, FL, (October 17, 2005) – This week, construction crews will continue taking USF Sarasota-Manatee’s future campus to the next level -- literally and figuratively.  

Hidden behind the trees along U.S. 41, hard-working crews have already firmly set the structural foundations at the future site. It’s likely that many drivers have passed by that stretch of North Tamiami Trail without realizing the extent of construction that has already occurred there. 

Now, the building crews are ready to quickly raise the walls of the 2^nd and 3^rd floors – thanks to a construction crane that will crank into action at the site this week.  

“The contractor and his team have been making great strides on the new campus project so far, but their construction accomplishments on the ground floor have been hard to see from the road – simply because the new campus is tucked behind a green belt,” said USF Sarasota-Manatee’s Campus CEO Laurey Stryker. 

“When the walls of floors two and three go up this week, it will be much, much easier for people to see the size and beauty of this wonderful new location,” added Stryker. “It’s marvelous to see how this great new USF regional campus is truly becoming a reality in our community.” 

For 30 years, USF Sarasota-Manatee has been co-located with New College of Florida, sharing a campus near University Parkway and North Tamiami Trail. USF Sarasota-Manatee’s future campus location is just north of the university’s current co-located site. 

Scheduled to open in Fall 2006, USF Sarasota-Manatee’s new campus location will include a 100,000-square-foot facility with 24 classrooms; a 190-seat lecture/exhibition hall; seminar and video-conferencing rooms; computer labs; student gathering places; faculty and staff offices; a technology and learning center; dining facilities; training facilities for the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, and even a daycare center.

Once completed, the new campus location will offer some 800 courses annually in 39 academic programs. Additionally, the facilities will be available for use by various organizations and activities in the community.