FLORENCE – An army of golden shovels dug into the dirt this morning as University of North Alabama administrators, UNA Board of Trustees Members and Florence City officials broke ground on two new residence halls going up on campus. Also in attendance were Alabama State Senator 
Roger Bedford, State Representative Greg Burdine and members from Capstone Development, the company that has teamed with UNA to build the residence halls.
According to Jeff Jones of Capstone Development, the new residence hall should be completed in less than a year. Building one is projected to be completed by the fall of 2015 and building two will follow shortly after, with a projected completion date of January 2016.
The two state-of-the-art residence halls will house 764 beds and cost about $33 million once completed. The new housing will provide a modern update to the campus and will hopefully play a role in academic 
success as well. UNA Interim President John Thornell said these new residence halls will help the university compete with other institutions of similar size.
David Shields, UNA’s vice president for Student Affairs, has played a crucial role in the development of the residence halls. Shields said the halls will be transformational. “We know that from 60 years of research engagement is the No. 1 factor in student success. The residence halls along with our new first-year experience program, university success center, new academic advising programs and many others all are here for student success.”
MEDIA RELEASE/UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA /Bryan Rachal, Public Affairs and Media Relations /Photographer: Shannon Wells
