College Hosts Ribbon Cutting for New Arts Center

Story and Photos by Terry Dickson of The Brunswick News terryldickson50@gmail.com

The community got a chance to see its building Friday when College of Coastal Georgia cut a ribbon at the new Center for the Arts and welcomed them inside the 32,328-square-foot building.

College of Coastal Georgia President Johnny Evans Jr. made it clear it is not as if the college was welcoming the public to a University System of Georgia building.

The Center for the Arts represents not just a vision but also a partnership, Evans said.

The building came in on time at two years and cost $20 million to build.

It is funded by an ESPLOST, a 1-percent sales tax for education that was voted on not just once but twice, Evans said.

It shows a commitment to education starting with public school pre-K programs all the way through college.

“This is not a College of Coastal Georgia facility,’’ Evans said. “It is a community asset.

It will have an immediate impact in exposing students and others to things they haven’t seen, he said.

He noted that some of the college’s students from Glynn County had never seen Jekyll Island until the college took them there. The center will help expand their horizons further, he said.

“We’ll take them to Jekyll Island and then bring them to a concert,’’ Evans said.

Jeff Dodgen, vice chairman of the Glynn County Board of Education, said it was the first ever collaboration on an ESPLOST.

“We again are so excited to be partners in this project,’’ he said.

“What stands behind us is so impressive,’’ said Jamie Bessette, vice president of advancement for the college, “but what matters is what happens hereafter.”

He said the center would be a place where the community can gather to celebrate and connect.

It was a short ceremony for such a big building, but Evans noted the heat that hit 88 degrees and kept it to about 15 minutes before cutting the ribbon.

He said he stood on the shoulders of giants who came before him and recognized Valerie Hepburn, the fourth president of the college, who oversaw its becoming a four-year institution and who ushered in an astonishing building program that brought several new instructional buildings, a student center and improved athletic facilities.

As soon as the Mariner blue ribbon settled to the concrete, Evans welcomed everyone into the air-conditioned building. The visitors toured every floor as a grand piano played on its own in the lobby.

Story republished with the permission of The Brunswick News. Originally published in The Brunswick News.