UMass Dartmouth broke ground today on a major expansion. The school is adding housing and dining facilities to accommodate hundreds of students.
Chancellor Robert Johnson said the construction project will update aging buildings, which no longer fit the university’s growing student body.
“Our freshman residence halls were built back in the 70s so they are outdated,” said Johnson. “Our dining facility was originally built for 1700 students. We now feed well over 4000 students on a daily basis.”
The project is part of the university’s transformation from a commuter school to a residential campus.
“We’re just really excited because this birth and this growth of this new facility supports our idea of providing a private college educational experience at a public university value.”
The complex that will include more than 12-hundred beds, a dining commons that seats 800, and academic classrooms. The project is expected to cost about $134-million.
This report comes from the New England News Collaborative: Eight public media companies, including Rhode Island Public Radio, coming together to tell the story of a changing region, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
