USF St. Pete To Add 200 More Residents Downtown

USF St. Petersburg recently broke ground on a multipurpose student center on the south side of 8th Avenue South, between 2nd and 3rd Streets South.

The 81,000-square-foot facility will include dining services, a ballroom, meeting spaces and a six-story residence hall that will add nearly 200 new residents to downtown St. Petersburg. The residence hall will have mostly two-person bedrooms, each with a private bath. The university's first residence hall, completed in 2006, accommodates 351 students in apartment-style suites and has been at capacity for three years. Plans are to open the building for occupancy at the start of the Fall 2012 semester.

"It's a very exciting time," says Kay-lynne Taylor, director for student services at USF's St. Pete (USFSP) campus. "In particular, for residential life on campus. The multipurpose student center is not only a facility or a building, it's a means for us to continue extending educational goals and opportunities to many audiences as well as to build connections between curricular and cocurricular experiences for students, faculty, staff, and community partners.

"I believe the new building is emerging as the 'living room' for the our vibrant campus community located on our 'Main Street,' i.e. Harborwalk. As our campus continues growing, the student services building will serve as a home away from home for even more incoming college undergraduate students."

Part of the funding for the $20 million facility was made possible by students who allocated a portion of their activity and services fee toward meeting the requirements for LEED certification.

Writer: Missy Kavanaugh
Source: Kay-lynn Taylor, USF St. Petersburg