WILBERFORCE — Central State University will build its first apartment-style residence hall to give students more on-campus housing options.
The complex, which will feature studio, one-, two- and four-bedroom apartments, will also feature a state-of-the-art health and wellness center, a wellness plaza and an outdoor activity space. The amenities will provide new housing solutions for students who want to stay on campus to live, learn and grow.
The 250-bed facility will be located behind McPherson Stadium and will create an anchor and public face on the east part of the campus. It will be the largest single residential facility to date. The most recent dorms added were the Harry Johns Living Learning Center and Fox Hall, both built in 2011.
“Our campus is growing and we are glad to make this investment for our students so that students can have different living options that keep them connected to the campus and other campus amenities, said Curtis Pettis, vice president for administration and finance and CFO.
Currently 1,221 CSU students, or 70 percent of enrolled students, live in university housing. The university is leasing apartment-style spaces from Payne Theological Seminary and the Greene Meadows Apartment complex for 30 juniors and seniors.
The planned health and wellness center will include two classrooms that can be used as additional academic space for the university’s exercise science major and rooms for exercise classes. A health café, where food and beverages will be sold, will be located there.
Jahan Culbreath, vice president of institutional advancement and athletics, said the new Wellness Center “empowers the CSU family and community to focus on health, wellness, and fitness, while providing hands-on space for the Exercise Science program.”
The new complex will be built by University Housing Solutions (UHS), which specializes in developing living/learning communities on university campuses. According to UHS, the Ohio-based company has planned, designed and built more than 2,500 beds within the past six years. UHS was the contractor that built the Harry Johns Living Learning Center and Fox Hall.
The cost of the project is $24M. UHS will own the residence hall and lease it back to the university. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Friday, April 27.
