AMERICUS — Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) announced Friday the inclusion of $3.4 million in House Bill 684, Georgia’s Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) budget, to fund the renovation of the Academic Center for Excellence (ACE), GSW’s primary advisement building. Officially signed into law Friday by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, the FY19 budget totals $26.2 billion.
The legislative delegation that represents the region where GSW resides (Sen. Freddie Powell Sims, Sen. Greg Kirk, Rep. Bill McGowan and Rep. Ed Rynders) worked diligently to make sure this project was included in the final version of the FY19 budget.
“I, along with the entire GSW community, are so very grateful to our legislative delegation,” said GSW President Neal Weaver. “Their advocacy and the support from Chancellor Steve Wrigley and Governor Deal sends a clear message that the state is behind GSW, and they believe in the direction we are headed.”
“More than 50 percent of GSW students are first generation college students,” added Weaver. “The renovation of the ACE Building, which includes accessibility improvements, will vastly enhance our ability to help students succeed academically. It also communicates to our students that we care about their future.”
The scope of the ACE Building project will include modernizing the HVAC system, remodeling the interior to meet the current needs of students, and construction of two elevator shafts — one for the ACE Building and one for the adjacent English Building. These are currently the only two structures in use on campus that do not have upper floor handicap access.
A date for groundbreaking will be announced later.