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The most comprehensive capital improvement project in more than a decade is underway at the Brewton campus of Coastal Alabama Community College, affecting nearly all of the college’s buildings, including the home of the 2024 Division II Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) State Champion Coyote baseball team. In all, the administration is spending more than $3.2 million on the improvements, which include nine roof replacements, structural repairs, new bleachers and a new press box/restroom building at the baseball stadium, and all new furnishings in the residence hall.

Phase One of the roofing project, which will replace the roofs of the first seven buildings — including Hines Hall, Leigh Library and the Wallace Administration Building — is soon to be completed and represents a renewed focus on the Escambia County campus by new Coastal Alabama Community College President Dr. Aaron Milner.

“The Chancellor of the Alabama Community College System Mr. Jimmy Baker has emphasized the mission is for us to serve our local communities,” said Brewton Campus Director Dennis Fuqua. “Dr. Milner and Coastal Alabama’s administration have followed through on that, giving us the resources necessary to be an even greater partner in this community and beyond.”

Richard Lynn, the College’s Director of Facilities for the northern campuses, said one of the improvements he’s most anticipating is the delivery of new furniture at Lakeview Apartments, the campus’s residence hall. During an average semester, nearly 100 students reside at Lakeview, and Lynn said grateful for the funding as this furniture dates back to the mid-1990s.

“I’m ecstatic we’re getting new dorm furniture,” he said. “There are certain projects we resolve with our standing budgets and maintenance procedures, but to have this much additional support invested is such a blessing for our Brewton Campus.”

The nearly $900,000 in new dorm furniture is scheduled to be installed while the resident students are off campus during the holidays.

“I truly believe we offer as good an on-campus college experience as any community college in the state,” Fuqua said.

A third of the total capital fund for the Brewton Campus, around $1.1 million, will go to the renovation of the baseball stadium, which will include the demolition of out-of-date bleachers and press box, which Lynn said were part of the original construction decades ago. The new aluminum bleachers will have a seating capacity of approximately 230 spectators and house a new press box. The new concession stand facility will include men’s and women’s restrooms and a changing room for the umpires.

Surrounding areas are available for those who want to bring their own chairs.

The renovations at the baseball stadium are expected to be completed in early spring 2025, as the Coyotes prepare to defend their state championship.

“We already field an elite team, and this season we expect to do more of the same, with better facilities for those who enjoy watching them play,” Fuqua said.