ABAC BEGINS $32 MILLION PROJECT
With President
Mike Vollmer leading the way by driving a bulldozer, the largest privatized
residence hall building project at a two-year college in the
Funded by private
bonds and supported by the ABAC Foundation, the $32 million project also
represents the second largest building project in the history of
“These residence
halls will change the face of ABAC forever,” Vollmer, who is about to begin his
third year as the ABAC President, said. “I have to give all the credit to ABAC
Foundation Chair Butch Davis, Foundation Trustees Dale Pflug and Pait Willis,
Development Director Melvin Merrill, and many other hard-working members of the
Foundation who gave some unbelievable hours putting this mammoth project
together.”
Vollmer said all
the existing residence halls at ABAC are at least 30 years old. Because of
their state of disrepair, the college had to make a decision.
“Our Master Facilities
Plan calls for new residence halls,” Vollmer said. “We were to the point that we had to either
become a complete commuter college or build new halls. We chose to build. We
want ABAC to move forward.”
Place Properties
President Cecil Phillips said his company will develop 835 new rooms on the
campus with construction assistance provided by Alcon Associates from
An 8,500 square
foot clubhouse will be in the center of the complex and will feature a kitchen,
an exercise room, recreation and television space, a study lounge, a computer
lab, a large meeting room, and management offices. The clubhouse will be directly linked to
ABAC’s new Pedestrian Mall, a 12-foot wide brick walkway which extends through
the center of the campus.
Vollmer said
construction will begin immediately. The tax exempt bonds have already been
sold. In fact, the college hopes to have
200 beds available for the spring semester, which begins on
As soon as the
first building is completed and the students have been moved, Chandler Hall
will be demolished. Branch Hall, Mitchell Hall, and Fulwood Hall will be
demolished when the total project is finished.
A per month lease
price has yet to be determined but Vollmer said approximately $345 a month for
a 12-month lease would be “somewhere in the ballpark.” The rent will include cable
television, water, electricity, and Internet access. Students will not be
required to purchase a meal ticket.
ABAC is already
one of the largest, residential two-year colleges in the state, housing over
750 students annually. Because the college attracts students from 141
“We have a rich
history of providing on-campus housing for our students,” Vollmer said. “These new rooms are going to provide great
impetus for us as we move toward ABAC’s 100th birthday in 2008.”
ABAC attracted a
record enrollment of 3,033 students during the 2002 fall semester. Applications are already running ahead of
that pace for the 2003 fall semester, which begins on Aug. 18.
“We started with a
great vision by a President who knows how to get things done,”
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