The three-story structure will be a campus focal point and will include a theater, bookstore, retail area, dining rooms, kitchens, offices, meeting rooms, lounges, student organization rooms and a multi-purpose room. Locally based Ellis, Ricket and Associates is the architect on the project.

Valdosta State University has 12,000 students and is located approximately three hours south of Atlanta. The new student union is being funded through the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and through the university's foundation, says Tom Underwood, project executive with Skanska.

"The higher education market is a large market and is a sustaining market, especially in times like we're currently in," says Underwood. Skanska is considered the third-largest builder of education structures in the country, and has completed similar projects at Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Washington, Southern Oregon University and University of Texas.

The Valdosta State student union becomes the latest major construction project under way at a college campus in southern Georgia. GlobeSt.com reported in June that Georgia Southern University in Statesboro is building a $44-million residence hall with 1,001 beds that is replacing three older dormitories. Atlanta-based Hardin Construction LLC is the general contractor on the 377,000-sf Centennial Place project.