PictureIMMEDIATE                                                                                                                                        SEPTEMBER 16, 2004

                                                                                     ABAC PLACE GRAND OPENING ON SEPTEMBER 23                                                                               

TIFTON—The grand opening and ribbon-cutting for the $32 million ABAC Place apartments will be held Sept. 23 with featured speaker, Dr. Thomas C. Meredith, Chancellor of the University System of Georgia. The event will take place at 11 a.m. in front of Town Hall on the campus of Abraham Baldwin College.

Other speakers include the Interim President of ABAC, Tom Call; Julie Ewing Hunt of the Board of Regents; former ABAC President Michael F. Vollmer; Cecil M. Phillips, President of Place Properties; and Dale N. Pflug, President of ABAC Place L.C.C.

The ABAC Foundation sponsored the mammoth project, which is the largest privatized housing development at a two-year college in the United States.  Melvin L. Merrill, President of the Foundation, and William L. Bowen, Jr., Chair, will speak at the grand opening.

The audience will get to hear a student’s viewpoint of the new apartments from Kaedy Cawthon, an ABAC Place resident and President of the ABAC Ambassadors.

Most of the apartments consist of four bedrooms and two baths with a completely furnished kitchen and living area. Each bedroom is equipped with a double bed, desk, chair, a chest of drawers, extra storage space underneath the bed, a closet, and a ceiling fan.  Students can also access the internet and cable television in their rooms.   Each room also has a phone jack.

The kitchen includes a microwave, stove, oven, refrigerator, and garbage disposal.  Students have a 12-month lease with a cost ranging from $345 to $360 per month.   This price covers all utilities. 

“The best thing about these apartments is that students are in the center of the campus,” Call said.  “Since the apartments are fully furnished, students can move right in with their clothes, kitchen utensils, and their televisions.

“An extra bonus for these students is the Town Hall,” Call said.  “I think that place is going to be one of the gathering spots on campus.”

The Town Hall is a 10,000 square foot facility which includes a game room, exercise room, wide screen television viewing area, a computer room, a meeting room, and a convenience store.  Just outside the Town Hall is a white sand volleyball court.  Grills and a gazebo will also be added on the Pedestrian Mall which will run through the middle of ABAC Place.

ABAC Place opened in January when 200 students from Chandler Hall moved into the facility.  Chandler Hall was demolished to make way for the remainder of the project.  Fulwood, Mitchell, and Branch halls will also be demolished in coming months.  Former residents of those buildings are now living in ABAC Place

For more information about living in ABAC Place, interested students can contact Place Properties in the Town Hall at (229) 391-2500.

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