Paul Quinn College breaks ground on first new building in 40 years

It was an exciting day at Paul Quinn College on Friday when it broke ground on its first new building on campus in 40 years.

The Trammell S. Crow Living and Learning Center will feature 30,000 square feet of living space for students and 10,000 square feet of classroom and office space, plus a dance studio and gym.

It’s a major step forward for Paul Quinn College. University President Michael Sorrell took over in 2007 with an agenda to transform the school into one of the country's great small colleges. The project is evidence of that mission.

The groundbreaking on Friday was the first for the campus in over 40 years and since Paul Quinn took over the former campus of Bishop College.

The Trammell S. Crow Living and Learning Center will include a new 30,000 square feet dormitory and a gym to hold 1,500 people.

Naming rights reflect the largest donor in the $7 million project from Dallas real estate investor and philanthropist Trammell Crow.

President Sorrell says the development is an asset for the entire South Dallas community.

"Communities that are in under-resourced areas, they are forced to live every day with a different kind of hope. And that hope often times goes unrewarded"Sorrell said. "And this day, this moment, this building says that by holding on and having faith, that that faith can be rewarded."

The project will include new construction and the complete renovation of a campus building no longer in use. It’s projected to be complete by the start of the Fall 2019 semester.

Paul Quinn announced weeks ago it is starting a satellite campus in Plano.