Southern University at New Orleans is ready to begin construction on a $21.2 million arts, humanities and social sciences building, one of four facilities slated to be built by 2019 with federal recovery dollars.
The New Orleans Advocate reports that the three-story, 70,640-square-foot arts and sciences building will house the university’s English, fine arts, history, African-American studies and Spanish programs, among others.
The new building is part of a broad plan to redesign the campus, which has been in the works since the university was badly damaged after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has allocated $82 million to pay for the new building and three others: the Millie M. Charles School of Social Work building, a natural sciences building and an education building. The social work and natural sciences buildings are under construction, and work on the education building is expected to start later this year.
Money from federal and state agencies already has helped the university build its first residence hall on the commuter-heavy campus, a business school and an information technology center.
The arts and sciences building will feature an office and lab wing and an auditorium with a nearly five-story proscenium tower. It is expected to be finished by October 2018.
The architect is Chasm + Fusion Architects, and the builder is Roy Anderson Corp.
