© 2024 WFAE

Mailing Address:
WFAE 90.7
P.O. Box 896890
Charlotte, NC 28289-6890
Tax ID: 56-1803808
90.7 Charlotte 93.7 Southern Pines 90.3 Hickory 106.1 Laurinburg
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An in-depth look at our region's emerging economic, social, political and cultural identity.

Building Boom Continues At UNC Charlotte

Courtesy of UNC Charlotte

UNC Charlotte has been on something of a building spree for several years now.  That trend will continue with the approval of some renovations and another new dorm. 

UNC Charlotte is one of the fastest growing schools in the UNC system and that has meant a lot of construction.  John Bland with the university has seen brick buildings sprout up around campus. 

“In the eight plus years that I’ve been here, I think we’ve built more than fifty structures including parking decks, as well as new academic buildings, and other facilities,” says Bland.   

This week the governor signed a bill that allows the university to spend $129 million to upgrade roads, telephone lines and Wi-Fi.  But most of the money will go toward renovating a few dorms and adding a new one that will house 400 students starting in 2016. If construction stays on track, it will be UNC Charlotte’s fourth new dorm to open in three years.

Credit Courtesy of UNC Charlotte
A new dining hall is being constructed on campus. (4-30-14)

  “We expect to have, over the next five or ten years, up to 7,000 students living on campus. So we’re building the means to allow them to be able to live on campus,” says Bland. 

That’s part of the plan to transform UNC Charlotte into a traditional college campus or what Bland calls a complete campus experience with nice dorms and a football team.

But that comes with a cost.  Students will have to pay an extra $50 in fees beginning this fall to help finance the latest construction.

Lisa Worf traded the Midwest for Charlotte in 2006 to take a job at WFAE. She worked with public TV in Detroit and taught English in Austria before making her way to radio. Lisa graduated from University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in English.