Student Center, Art Building ready for student use
By Brittany Hackett | bhackett@flagler.edu
The landscape of Flagler College has changed over the summer with the completion of two major construction projects.
The 42,000-square-foot Ringhaver Student Center, located on the corner of Sevilla and King streets, is ready to become the center for student life. In addition to the dining and lounge areas, it will be home to the college bookstore, a multi-purpose room, five classrooms, a theatre-style classroom, group study rooms, faculty offices and the student and career services offices.
“Ringhaver Student Center will be a convenient place for students to hold meetings, attend events, study, relax, or grab a bite to eat,” said Grant Nielson, director of the student center. “I think students will be very satisfied with everything it has to offer.”
Photo Gallery: Construction Complete
New features and activities planned for the center include Pilates, yoga, aerobics and ballroom dancing instruction; billiard, foosball, ping pong and air hockey tables; movie nights in the domed Gamache Theater; and a variety of food options at Bugg’s Bistro.
The renovations of the 120-year-old Molly Wiley Art Building have also been finished in time for the new semester.
Chris Smith, chair of the art department, said the building has improved working conditions for students and faculty, and they added more sections and new courses. Smith said a “big benefit” for graphic design students is the working photo studio that will “involve more field-relevant photography courses.”
The updated facilities will also feature a spiral staircase, a restored skylight, open woodwork ceilings and a new entrance and sculpture courtyard.
In addition to the renovated art building, construction is underway on the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum. The $900,000 museum will be located at 48 Sevilla St. between the Proctor Library and the Ringhaver Student Center.
“The new art museum/gallery brings a more campus-central location for the gallery, thus more accessible for all students,” Smith said.
The museum will provide 1,400 square feet of additional gallery and reception space to the $1.5 million historic property recently donated to the college by Robert Ellert and JoAnn Crisp-Ellert. The couple decided to give their 19th-century home and adjoining art studio to the college shortly before Crisp-Ellert’s death in January.
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