Prefab Building on Florida Polytechnic Campus Recommended

The structure would serve facilities functions eventually. (PROVIDED TO THE LEDGER)

Published: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 at 12:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, July 29, 2013 at 11:59 p.m.

LAKELAND | As Florida Polytechnic University gears up for a fall 2014 opening, administrators and staff have been working out of office space on South Florida Avenue.

But when prospective students and parents come calling, they will want to see the future site of the state's 12th university.

By mid-November, a premanufactured building should be on site to house about a dozen university employees to allow them to operate before permanent space is ready. Others will remain at the 1 Poly Place address on South Florida Avenue.

The university's Operations Committee met via conference call Monday and voted on the premanufactured building option. The committee will recommend the full board approve $1.169 million for the building.

They also heard about modular trailers and conventional construction, but the premanufactured option was chosen for several reasons, including the fact that it can be used by the facilities staff later, so most of the cost will not go to waste. It will be set up next to a campus control center for that purpose.

Contractor Pete Karamitsanis, president of Lighthouse Advisors, said the building should be ready to be occupied by mid-Novem?ber.

The concept of setting up the recruiting space is similar to that of a model home at a construction site. The approximately 5,000-square-foot building will give students and parents an idea of what the Florida Poly experience will be like.

"We are actually setting up a classroom because we won't be able to show students classrooms for a long time," said Admissions Director Scott Rhodes.

The classroom area will be divided into four sections and include a laboratory setting and a typical classroom.

The building will provide space for group presentations, conference rooms, private meeting rooms and office space for recruiters and financial aid counselors.

The staff wants the structure to present an appropriate public "face" for the univer?sity.

"A steel structure will communicate permanency, which we believe is critical at this juncture to selling the total Florida Polytechnic first-year student experience," Rhodes said.

Brochures, information on a website and videos might show prospective students a bit of what it will be like there, but an on-site setup will serve as a more informative way to describe Florida Poly, he said.

"Florida Polytechnic University is selling a completely new type of 21st-century college experience," he said. "So while you're selling the future and a dream, you are still selling a college experience. Therefore, it's critical that the experience be as real as possible and help prospective families visualize what they are choosing: Florida Polytechnic University.

The budget includes $919,302 for a total projected cost for the building, including $670,000 for construction and additional funds for setting up parking lots and land?scaping.

About $50,000 is budgeted for golf carts to transport people on tours. Another $100,000 is included for furnishings and electronic equipment, but Rhodes and others will be using a lot of furnishings the university inherited from the University of South Florida Polytechnic.

[ Mary Toothman can be reached at mary.toothman@theledger.com or 863-802-7512. Her Twitter feed is @MaryToothman. ]

Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20130730/news/130729138

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