FMU breaks ground on performing arts center

FLORENCE — Francis Marion University officially broke ground for its Performing Arts Center on Friday at the site on the corner of Dargan and West Palmetto streets.

The event was the culmination of a process that began more than 10 years ago.

The facility will serve as an instructional space for FMU’s fine arts programs and a venue for national traveling music, dance and theater productions.

It will also serve as one of the “anchors” in down Florence intended to draw private business into the area.

“This is a grand day for the university, the city of Florence and the Pee Dee region as we break ground for what will become the premier performing arts venue in the state,” FMU President Dr. Fred Carter said. “It’s truly going to be a grand building and it’s going to showcase a lot of the capabilities of the university, as well.”

Also on hand were project architect for the center, Malcolm Holzman of New York-based Holzman-Moss Architects; Dr. C. Edward Floyd of the Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation; chairman of the S.C. State Finance Committee Sen. Hugh K. Leatherman Sr. and Florence Mayor Stephen J. Wukela, as well as Starr Ward and Beverly Hazelwood, who were early supporters of a performing arts center in Florence.

The groundbreaking, Hazelwood said, “is the culmination of 13 years, starting with a focus and a mission for the center, taking that to the next level that was supported by Dr. Carter, Drs. Bruce and Lee and the city and state.”

Leatherman said the center would assist the Florence area’s economic advancement.

“What we are doing here today will help us who go out and try to entice companies to come here, help them understand that we do appreciate our culture here in Florence,” he said.

Holzman noted the importance of using granite and wood from South Carolina to construct the center.

“(The center) will be a building that has its roots here,” he said. “This will be your building.”

MB Kahn of Coastal Division, the contractor for the center’s construction, was selected as contractor by the center’s governing board in November after its $27,722,218 bid was judged the lowest.

With soft costs and such alternative projects as the sculpture garden and the amphitheater, the project cost will come to $32,881,000.

The base cost of the project is being paid for with money donated by the Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation, the state of South Carolina and the city of Florence.

The alternative costs are being paid for by private donations, one of which was a $325,000 donation by BB&T in September toward the amphitheatre. Another gift was given earlier this month by Florence resident Adele Kassab toward the sculpture garden.

The center is set to be completed in fall 2010.

Hazelwood said the center is a chance not just to bring traveling arts, music and theater groups to the region, but also to provide an educational opportunity to the area.

“It will be an opportunity for school children who have never seen live performances,” she said.

Carter said the center is equally important to FMU and the Florence community.

“I think this facility, this construction project, means an awful lot to this community,” he said. “Part of it is having a performing arts center, but another part of it is that it really underscores that partnership between the university and the city.”