FAU and the University of Florida have come together in a joint-use facility with a focus on Everglades restoration and environmental science.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the FAU/UF joint facility took place on Jan. 21 at FAU’s Davie campus. The building is expected to be completed in fall 2010 and is designed to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification.
“The construction of this building will be making an economic and educational impact to the state of Florida and an impact in generations of young people that have not yet been born,” FAU President Frank T. Brogan says. “It is what the people that are inside of the building will do that creates the real genius of this expansion of FAU in partnership with UF.”

During the ceremony, Brogan emphasized that the main purpose of the partnership between both institutions was to be able to share science and knowledge and understand how to create more sustainable environmental practices for the 21st century.

The 75,000 square foot facility will be home to the students and faculty researchers from both institutions. The four-story building will also include classrooms and offices for the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science.
“We knew it was time to leap across the street. Although not inevitable, it was essential,” Vice President of FAU Broward Campuses Joyanne Stephens says.

The ceremony included a groundbreaking and raising the FAU flag at the building site. Attending the event were community leaders, FAU and UF faculty members and
state representatives, among others.
“Instead of being a satellite campus, we have the opportunity to become a center of honor,” says graduate student Craig Van der Heiden, who attended the event.