New Parking Lot — Finishing touches are being made on the improved parking lot at the northwest corner of the intersection of Kennedy Boulevard and North Boulevard.

Kennedy Boulevard Building — Construction on the interior of the Kennedy Boulevard Building is complete, and faculty assigned to the facility are settling in.

Brevard Avenue/Spaulding Drive — Due to the construction of Palm Apartments, the segment of Brevard Avenue between North A Street and Spaulding Drive will be closed through January 2017. Spaulding Drive has shifted to the north near to the Saunders Art Center, Ferman Music Center, and Graduate and Continuing Studies buildings. The on-street parking on Spaulding has been eliminated to make this traffic shift possible.

Grand Salon — Restoration efforts within the Grand Salon are complete. The room is now open for scheduled events, though roof repairs will continue into September.

» Open house and tours scheduled for Friday, Sept. 2

To further enhance campus life and students’ co-curricular experience, The University of Tampa announced it will build a new fitness center in the heart of the UT campus.

The new fitness center will be constructed just east of the existing McNiff Fitness Center and north of the Ferman Music Center, where basketball and volleyball courts are currently located. McNiff will remain open during construction.

Construction of the new center will be done in two phases with phase I consisting of two floors totaling 40,000 square feet. The completion date for phase I is set for Summer 2016, with doors opening in the fall. The phase II future construction will expand the center by an additional 20,000 square feet for a total of 60,000 square feet. The second phase will include additional classroom and lab space for related academic programs.

When complete, the new facility will be about eight times larger than the current fitness center, and will have expanded hours of operation.

We envision the fitness center as a centrally-located, one-stop shop for all exercise programs, personal training and evaluation, wellness and nutrition programs, intramurals, recreation activities, club sports and some exercise related laboratory and research activities.

Specifically, the center will feature six group exercise rooms, which includes one spinning room. Two small fitness assessment rooms have been incorporated in the floor plan, as well as a “flexible” classroom to allow for educational and training functions. A large number of Precor fitness machines (treadmills, stationary bikes, elliptical trainers, etc.) as well as free weights, will be available. The center will also include offices for Campus Recreation and related staff, as well as lockers.

The University of Tampa started construction of the next and final phase of the Palm Apartments residence hall complex in May, with a completion date of August 2017.

The existing two wings of ResCom that face Brevard Avenue and Spaulding Drive were demolished after May Commencement, and two new wings of Palm Apartments are being constructed in their place. The new wings will join with the existing Palm Apartments building that was completed in January 2015. The complex is located toward the center of campus, between Brevard Hall and the Thomas Parking Garage.

The overall footprint will be similar to the original ResCom configuration, with a courtyard within the three wings. Once the entire project is completed, the Palm Apartments complex will house approximately 600 students, compared to ResCom’s original 234 total occupancy.

The new wings will be similar in style to the current Palm Apartments, and will reflect the latest in university campus amenities. Each room will be suite-style with a common living room, kitchen, bathroom and four single rooms. All rooms will be cable and network ready.

"Palm Apartments has proven to be a popular residence hall,” said Ronald L. Vaughn, UT president. “And Phase II will enlarge our residential campus and provide more students with an exemplary on-campus living situation that will augment their academic and co-curricular experiences.”

Palm Apartments in its entirety represents the eighth new residence hall built under the leadership of Pres. Vaughn. The campus’ physical growth comes as a result of significant enrollment expansion that has quadrupled over the last 19 years to 8,037 students. The University has invested approximately $460 million in new construction since 1997.

Currently about 65 percent of full-time UT students live in campus housing.

Crossroads Construction has been named to build this phase of the residence hall.

A major renovation to McKay Hall took place in summer of 2015 and will continue through the summer of 2016. Residents are occupying McKay during the full 2015-2016 academic year and enjoy the entire facility. Final finishes will be installed in the summer of 2016. Full details: McKay Hall Receives Complete Makeover This Summer