By Kyra Lieberman –In Motion Staff Writer
Coming soon to Daytona State College: dorms.
DSC will join a handful of other state and community colleges in the state of Florida that currently have on-campus housing for students. Set to open doors in under two years, with a goal of Fall 2021, DSC has hired a contractor and architect to make the plans a reality. The architect also designed some of the student housing at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
“Our student housing is going to be similar to what they have,” says Christopher Wainwright, Associate VP of Facilities Planning at DSC, of the 250-bed facility coming to Daytona State.
“It’s going to take the places of Whisper Oaks, which is where our athletes were living before, off campus. So the athletes are going to be coming on campus and that will be less than half of the total occupancy.”
It will take the place of the former library and Bldg. 340 on the north side of campus, both of which are being demolished in the next month.
“That’s going to change the whole dynamic, having students living on campus. With the new Student Center, it’s like the living room and heart of campus, especially for students in on-campus housing,” Wainwright continues. “We’ve been meeting a lot with the Board [of Trustees] and discussing the policy and procedure. There will be new meal plans, campus safety is involved, buildings will be open later and there will be more activities on campus that will go later into the evening since people will be living here.”
The student housing project has been funded entirely by the DSC Foundation, whose mission is to fund scholarships, programs and projects at DSC which directly help students.
“It’s all being done through the Daytona State Foundation,” he says. “That’s how all that work is being done. The Foundation is really the one building student housing. The state cannot give funds for student housing to state colleges, but the Foundation raises its own funding so we get to do this.”
Student housing will be available to students before long, says Wainwright.
“It’s exciting. We’re hoping to break ground by June 1st of this year. The buildings will be gone in the next month and a half, so the first site work will begin very soon.”
To see what else is coming to DSC and stay up to date, visit http://www.daytonastate.edu/fp/projects.html.