Georgia State University is preparing to formally dedicate its new $100 million Research Tower near the corner of Decatur Street and Piedmont Avenue on Sept. 22, with Gov. Brian Kemp and GSU President M. Brian Blake expected to attend.
The nine-story, 155,000-square-foot building fills a gap along Jesse Hill Jr. Drive, north of the MARTA Georgia State station, and sits adjacent to the university's existing science facilities. It opened for classes this fall: lower floors hold classrooms and teaching labs, middle floors carry research space for faculty, and the upper floors are reserved for future expansion.
The university says the tower is built to “support cutting-edge research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovative teaching,” with particular emphasis on GSU's Institute for Biomedical Sciences. The project is the latest piece of a research-infrastructure push that has topped $2 billion over the past decade, as the university has worked to modernize facilities to match growing research demand.
The dedication follows a busy stretch of campus construction news for GSU's downtown footprint, which also includes the new Panther Quad. The Research Tower itself has been open since the start of the fall semester; Monday's ceremony formally marks the building's debut with the university's own leadership and the governor's office.
Source: Urbanize Atlanta