Pictured at the groundbreaking are, from left, Victor Elmore, president, Texas Mezzanine Fund; Don J. Clevenger, Paul Quinn College Board Chair, SVP and CFO, Oncor; Dr. Michael J. Sorrell, president, Paul Quinn College; Bishop Vashtai Murphy McKenzie, 10th Episcopal District, African Methodist Church; Betsy Healy, associate director, Simmons Foundation; Trammel S. Crow, founder of EarthX.

DALLAS—Paul Quinn College recently held groundbreaking and a ribbon cutting ceremonies on major campus improvement projects here.

The college broke ground on its first new building on campus in 40 years— The Trammell S. Crow Living and Learning Center—which will be LEED-certified and will feature 30,000 square feet of residential space and 10,000 square feet of classroom and office space. The building will also include a dance studio and a 1,500-person capacity competitive gym. The Trammell S. Crow Living and Learning Center will be designed by RBA Architects. Crimson Building Company and Burchfield & Partners will serve as the developers for the project.

Paul Quinn officials also unveiled the completed Bishop and Dr. John Hurst Adams and Family Lecture Hall and Auditorium. The state-of-the-art lecture hall/auditorium, which is housed in the Adams Administration Building, was funded in part by the friends and the Family of Bishop and Dr. John Hurst Adams. The new auditorium will be used for classes, speaking engagements, movie screenings, assemblies, and meetings.

“As Quinnites, we are charged to live by the standard of Isaiah 58:9-12, which, among other things, commands us to be the restorers of streets and dwellings,” said Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College. “Today, thanks to the generosity of Trammell S. Crow, the Simmons Foundation, the Hillcrest Foundation, Houston's Church Without Walls, our National Alumni Association, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and others, we live up to those words. The Crow Living and Learning Center will be the first of many new structures built on this campus.”

More than $7 million in donations and pledges has been raised for the development of the Trammell S. Crow Living and Learning Center by partners Trammell S. Crow, the Simmons Foundation, the Hillcrest Foundation, the Paul Quinn College National Alumni Association, Houston-based Church Without Walls, and others.

The Texas Mezzanine Fund, a community development financial institution and community development entity promoting economic growth in low and moderate-income communities throughout Texas, has allocated $11.5 million of its $75 million in new market tax credits to the project. The New Markets Tax Credit Program is a federal tax credit program that is designed to stimulate commercial investment in low-income communities. Partners in the new market tax credits from TMF include PNC Bank, Butler Snow, and Renaissance Capital Partners.

The new building groundbreaking and the lecture hall/auditorium unveiling follows the announcement of PQC-Plano, the first site in the planned national expansion of Paul Quinn College's Urban Work College Model. The model aims to eradicate poverty through combining higher education with access to quality jobs, secure housing, and reduced student loan burden.

Instant Insights /

Paul Quinn College Breaks Ground on First New Campus Building in 40 Years

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