Albany State University to break ground on new Fine Arts Center

ALBANY — Albany State University is set to expand, as the university will hold a formal groundbreaking ceremony for a state-of-the-art Fine Arts Center at 11 a.m. Tuesday. University administrators and local and state officials will put shovels to earth to signify the start of construction for the 80,000-square-foot facility.

The structure will be located on the upper campus, between the Billy C. Black Building and Residence Hall 5.

“It took several years to get the building finalized for Albany State University, and we are looking forward to officially breaking ground,” said ASU President Art Dunning. “Creative industries in Georgia provide $29 billion in annual revenue, so this center will help in regional economic development through university performances and community productions that will be held there.”

The ultra-modern building will include multipurpose instructional spaces, lecture and recital halls, a band rehearsal room, instrumental and choral rehearsal spaces, art studios and a “black box” studio theater.

“We appreciate all of our local and state officials who will attend the ceremony to celebrate such an incredible moment for the university,” said Wendy Wilson, special assistant to the president for strategic communications and university relations. Wilson also serves as the Groundbreaking Committee chair. “We also want to thank our university faculty, staff, students and alumni who have helped to see this project through.”

Art, music, speech, theater and music education classes will be moved from aging Holley Hall into the new facility.

Designed to achieve maximum space and utility, the building will incorporate more than 50 professional staff offices, 12 classroom labs for English and general instruction, and eight studio art classrooms.

A reception in the Billy C. Black Building atrium will follow the ceremony. In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in the Black Building atrium.

The Fine Arts Center has endured a torturous 14-year route to reality, a route that has involved three ASU presidents, the Ray Charles Foundation and the state attorney general’s office.

A new fine arts center had long been atop Albany State’s wish list, but the project was bogged down by state bureaucracy and controversy. In 2000, the state Board of Regents approved a $21 million construction budget, but the money was never allocated by the Legislature. A year later, ASU became involved with the Charles Foundation, which donated $3 million to go toward building the facility, which was to be named in honor of the late singer’s mother, Aretha Robinson.

In 2010, the General Assembly allotted $1.8 million to design the building, but that was the last state money the school would see until the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1, provided the item stays as it is when the Legislature approves the governor’s spending plan.

And after more than a decade of no noticeable progress, the Charles Foundation last year demanded the return of the $3 million donation but settled for $1.25 million after seeking assistance from Attorney General Sam Olen’s office.

Last year, the General Assembly finally included $19.8 million in the state budget for the new center, added another $2.1 million this past session, and the final hurdle was cleared. According to university officials, the center has a $25.1 million estimated total cost and is expected to open in the fall of 2017.