HINESVILLE — Armstrong State University officially broke ground Wednesday on the new $5.8 million Armstrong Liberty Center in downtown Hinesville.
Gov. Nathan Deal, University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank M. Huckaby, Hinesville Mayor James Thomas, state Sen. Jack Hill, state Rep. Al Williams and Georgia National Guard Maj. Gen. Jim Butterworth addressed the audience of more than 200 community leaders, political dignitaries and Armstrong representatives at the groundbreaking ceremony.
View Spotted photos from the ceremony.
“The future of those who pass through the Armstrong Liberty Center will be brighter,” Deal told the audience. “They will have the opportunity to advance themselves and their families and will help make our state even stronger.”
The Armstrong Liberty Center has experienced a 20 percent increase in enrollment over each of the last two academic years. The new center will offer 21,000 square feet of learning space at the corner of Memorial Drive and Welborn Street in downtown Hinesville, replacing a smaller leased facility on East General Stewart Way.
“During my tenure as chancellor, there hasn’t been another project that exemplifies partnership more than the Armstrong Liberty Center,” Huckaby said. “This project is a manifestation of our commitment to doing whatever we can to support veterans in Georgia. We’re focused on expanding our educational efforts to military personnel and are excited about what’s going on in Hinesville.”
The new center will allow an expansion of Armstrong’s academic programs in Hinesville and will enable the university to serve a growing student population in Liberty County. Hussey, Gay, Bell and DeYoung is the architect for the project, which is expected to open to students in the fall of 2015.
“The Armstrong Liberty Center is an outstanding example of community partnership,” said Armstrong president Linda M. Bleicken. “The Liberty Center not only serves active duty soldiers and their families, but it offers thousands of area residents the opportunity to get a higher education.”
Armstrong’s Liberty Center currently offers associate degree tracks in liberal studies, criminal justice, business and a variety of health profession areas, as well as bachelor’s degrees in liberal studies and criminal justice.
The state-of-the-art expanded facility will include classrooms, science laboratories, faculty/staff offices, common areas, student services and support areas. The building’s design will be sensitive to the aesthetic fabric of the existing community and will complement the existing downtown streetscape, university officials said.
“This is a great step forward for our community,” Thomas, the Hinesville mayor, said of the new center. “It helps our students, it helps the military and it provides a place that will increase the quality of life in Hinesville for years to come.”