Dr. Jerome Hammond, Lee University vice-president for university relations, left, led a tour of Main Street Cleveland members through the new Communications Arts Building.
Main Street Cleveland members got a preview tour of Lee University's nearly-finished Communications Arts Building Monday.
"We wanted it to look great all the way around," Dr. Jerome Hammond, vice president for university relations, told those touring the 41,000 square foot building. The structure will be a prominent part of downtown. One foyer opens onto the Ocoee St. and Central Ave. intersection to invite students to explore downtown.
"The building will be ready when students arrive next month," Dr.
Hammond said.
On the outside, passers-by will see a great deal of green space. On the inside, students will be working, creating and editing videos on two floors that hold a black box theater (with a capacity of 175), a television studio and sound stage, film screening and editing room, eight video editing suites, a student journalism lab, a computer lab and eight classrooms.
There is space for 22 faculty members, a commons area where a Sandella's Flatbread Cafe will be open and more.
Construction began in July 2013 with a completion date for the approximately $10 million project being this fall.
Meanwhile work also continues to reconfigure the former First Baptist Church building across Church St. from the new Communications Arts Building was renamed Pangle Hall and will be transformed into a performance hall.
The university's plans for the Central Ave./Church St. campus area include a School of Nursing building, scheduled to be ready in 2016.
"We have a commitment to making this end of the campus very handsome," Dr. Hammond told the tour group.