Construction of the $7.6 million, two-story building is expected to be completed in fall 2014. It will feature a state-of-the-art, “next-generation” teaching-and-learning environment that will include 13 multimedia classrooms, offices, a conference room, lecture hall, bookstore, Internet café and student lounge. Modeled after a faculty-driven design dubbed the “Classroom of the Future,” the new facility’s classrooms will sport a focus on collaborative learning that leverages digital and Wi-Fi technology, and encourages students to use their own mobile devices as learning tools.
Also planned are additional parking and renovation of existing buildings on the campus, including relocating the testing center, expanding academic support areas, adding a chemistry lab and building new faculty offices.
The new building will accommodate projected enrollment increases, mitigate a 60-plus mile round-trip commute for many Flagler residents who must attend classes in Daytona Beach, and open opportunity for new programs and course offerings in areas such as marine sciences, health care and business.
The Flagler/Palm Coast Campus is among Daytona State’s fastest growing regional instructional sites. It originally opened in 1979 as the Flagler County Center, with three classrooms housed in the Palm Harbor Shopping Center, offering 33 college-credit courses to 335 students. In 1980, ITT Community Development Corp. donated 100 acres to the college, which, in 1983 helped with the cost of constructing the first building on the current site at 3000 Palm Coast Parkway Southeast. A second building, which tripled the size of the campus, was constructed in 1995.
Over the past 10 years, the Flagler/Palm Coast Campus has had an average enrollment of nearly 2,500 students.
