Construction on the University of North Georgia’s (UNG) Blue Ridge Campus is nearing completion after the roof and exterior walls are finished.
This will allow the construction to progress without being affected by inclement weather. This substantial milestone was achieved eight months after construction started on the more than 12,000-square-foot building.
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Located about three miles from the present Dunbarton Road facility, the new building consists of four classrooms with one that doubles as a computer lab. A full biology lab that can be converted into a chemistry lab is also part of the independent facility.
UNG facilities department capital planning and project management director Todd Bermann said: “We call it ‘dried in’. It is an important phase because we can start putting up interior walls. We had built in some weather delays, but we exceeded those in December. Now, we are expediting other areas to make up for that lost time.”
Since the opening of Blue Ridge Campus in 2015, its exceptional growth has made a standalone campus a requirement.
UNG’s Blue Ridge Campus director Sandy Ott said: “Not only UNG but the community and region needed to have a standalone campus to provide opportunities in education, economic development and workforce development to help grow this region.
“This new campus is a game-changer because of the expanded access to education that it provides and the resulting impact on the region.”
The Georgia General Assembly funded the $5.5m project in the 2019 fiscal year. Georgia Speaker of the House of Representatives David Ralston helped secure the funds.
The building is expected to be ready for occupancy in August this year.
