Jacksonville State University is continuing its cleanup from tornado damage that occurred in 2018. Doster Construction, a general contracting and construction management firm, has won the bid to build the university’s new School of Business and Industry.
The new school was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, of New York City, and Davis Architects, of Birmingham, and will sit where Merrill Hall stood before the building suffered irreparable damage from the tornado.
Doster broke ground on the new, 105,000-square-foot School of Business and Industry in January and expects to complete construction in 2021. The new school will have a 300-seat auditorium, three-story atrium and common space, 12 academic classrooms, a finance lab, faculty and staff offices and a dean’s suite. The atrium will serve as a gathering place for all students, with a café looking out onto a landscaped exterior courtyard space.
The School of Business and Industry houses the departments of applied engineering, communication, management and marketing, and finance, economics and accounting. It also is home to the Small Business Development Center, the Center for Economic Development and the Center for Economic Education.
Jacksonville State University, a public university located in Jacksonville in the northeastern portion of the state, had a fall 2018 enrollment of 8,479 students and offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Its School of Business and Industry is accredited by AACSB International.
Doster Construction was founded in 1969 and specializes in multifamily, health care, hospitality, commercial, industrial and educational facilities throughout the country.
