Construction of a Santiago Calatrava-designed Innovation, Science and Technology Building at the University of South Florida Polytechnic campus in Lakeland has broken ground, according to a report from the Lakeland Ledger. Skanska USA is managing the reportedly $98-million project, says John White, project manager for the university.
It's a big deal for the fledgling campus, which is now poised to grow significantly due to Gov. Rick Scott's recent approval of a controversial plan to spin off the school as Florida's 12th public university, Florida Polytechnic University.
In addition to this initial project, USF Polytechnic's website states the plan for the emerging campus includes an Interdisciplinary Center for Excellence and Wellness Center, a 124-bed residence hall, central energy plant and a temporary research lab facility.
USF Poly is touting Calatrava's master plan as the vision for a 21st-century university, stating: "This stunning campus promises to become a new model of innovation for universities everywhere. Promoting applied, multidisciplinary teaching and research and multicultural interaction, it will offer students cutting-edge facilities and spaces, including innovative classrooms and applied learning laboratories."
We'll have more information on this project soon. For now, here's a look at the school's video depicting the intriguing master plan. (Is that a big light bulb I see at the end?)
After you've taken a look, feel free to share your thoughts. We always enjoy hearing from our readers.
This blog post has been updated with additional project details.
