South Carolina State University is overhauling facilities on its Orangeburg campus.
The projects will enable the university to expand its student center, renovate its tallest residence hall, and complete other projects, reports The Times and Democrat.
The university's top priorities in the renovation include expanding Kirkland W. Green Student Life Center and renovating Sojourner Truth Hall.
The student center, which opened in 1954, is outdated, university officials said. Tearing down and replacing the existing student center would cost about $40 million to $60 million, so officials decided to renovate and build an addition.
The Green Center’s administrative offices will be relocated to neighboring Miller Hall, a former residence hall that also will be renovated.
A $20 million, 30,000-square-foot addition will be erected on the southeast side of the Green Center near Miller Hall and the campus rose garden. The addition will include a new cafeteria and extra space for student life activities.
The $10 million project at Truth Hall will consist of retrofitting the residence hall with a fire-suppression sprinkler system and other upgrades.
Students have been housed only on the residence hall's lower floors in recent years because the upper floors are inaccessible to fire trucks.
University officials said by renovating Truth Hall, it will add 200 beds to accommodate growing enrollment.
The student center renovation is expected to be completed in 2024, and the addition is expected to be completed in fall 2025.
The residence hall renovation is expected to be finished in 2025.
