The middle is a direct response to native workforce wants in robotics, area science, and superior manufacturing, with funding from the state, non-public donations, federal allocations and SPLOST funds.
With Georgia’s Fiscal Yr 2026 state finances finalized, Columbus State College will start planning a $22.2 million heart for superior applied sciences—together with robotics, engineering and area science—on its Most important Campus. The power, which is able to function the brand new dwelling for its Coca-Cola Area Science Heart, marks a big milestone within the college’s historical past and its dedication to cutting-edge science, engineering and workforce improvement.
“That is the primary state-funded new educational constructing at Columbus State College in over 20 years,” mentioned President Stuart Rayfield. “This can be a multi-use facility—a hub for superior expertise and a pipeline for cultivating technologically literate college students from kindergarten by way of faculty.”
The roughly 36,000-square-foot constructing can be positioned on Columbus State’s Most important Campus, parallel to Interstate 185 throughout the car parking zone from the Elizabeth Bradley Turner Heart. It would help the college’s quickly rising robotics engineering program—which has expanded from simply six college students to greater than 100 undergraduate and graduate majors in just a few years—and function a dynamic collaboration between Columbus State, the Muscogee County Faculty District and key regional companions.
The constructing will present:
• State-of-the-art tutorial area and laboratories for Columbus State’s Robotics Engineering program.
• An expanded and fashionable dwelling for the Coca-Cola Area Science Heart, which homes quite a few aerospace galleries, boasts greater than 300 NASA artifacts, and hosts greater than 40,000 guests yearly.
• A regional hub for robotics schooling, testing and innovation.
• Area for native and regional robotics competitions, STEM applications and youth schooling which are hallmarks of the college’s longstanding STEM partnerships with the Muscogee County Faculty District.
• Alternatives for analysis and STEM-focused partnerships, notably with Fort Benning and different trade stakeholders.
• A direct response to native workforce wants in robotics, area science and superior manufacturing.
“This constructing exemplifies this group’s dedication to partnerships and Columbus State College’s position in educating college students who will advance the technological wants of our area,” mentioned MSCD Superintendent Dr. David Lewis. “I sit up for increasing our relationship with CSU, and our potential to encourage the following era of tech-savvy college students by way of this great facility.”
The full mission value is estimated at $22.2 million. The state will present $12.2 million, whereas the remaining $10 million derives from a mix of personal donations to the college, a federal allocation to the Coca-Cola Area Science Heart , and particular goal native possibility gross sales tax (SPLOST) funds by way of the Muscogee County Faculty District.
“As we glance towards the financial way forward for the Chattahoochee Valley and the state of Georgia, fields like robotics, superior manufacturing and area science can be key,” Rayfield mentioned. “We’re grateful to the governor, the College System of Georgia Board of Regents and our legislative delegation for his or her confidence in what we’re constructing at Columbus State—and our position in assembly Georgia’s workforce wants.”
The final state-funded CSU educational facility was the Synovus Heart for Commerce and Expertise, which opened about 20 years in the past. The Coca-Cola Area Science Heart facility opened downtown in 1996 and can stay open till it transitions to its new dwelling. A timeline has not but been established for the development or relocation of the Coca-Cola Area Science Heart and the College Police Division.
