Fitting into place; Fayetteville State University hosts steel topping out ceremony for $69.3M College of Education building

By Faith Hatton, posted Apr 23, 2025 on BizFayetteville.com

It was a great day to be a Bronco on Thursday, April 17, as faculty and staff at Fayetteville State University (FSU) gathered on the current construction site of the future College of Education building to celebrate a key milestone for the project.

Armed with pens, those in attendance at the steel topping ceremony were able to leave their mark on a final piece of infrastructure before it was placed at the top of the building.

FSU Chancellor Darrell T. Allison speaks in front of the gathered guests during the ceremony.
Photo provided by: FSU

With a $69.3M price tag, FSU’s new College of Education building will feature four stories and include conference rooms, classrooms and faculty offices resulting in over 30 dedicated learning and collaboration spaces and more than 60 private office spaces.

FSU partnered with Metcon Construction Inc. to build the 72,027 square foot addition to the campus and Chancellor Darrell T. Allison shared a bit about the story of how the building came to be and thanked all of the partners that made it possible including the Board of Governors, the UNC System, the facilities team and the FSU Board of Trustees and former state representative, FSU alum and educator Marvin Lucas.

“When I tell you it is a team leadership effort to do this kind of work, it really is. So, when I say there's meetings on top of meetings, serious decisions that have to be made, it’s steel and cement and dirt and construction, but it's so much that goes into this,” shared Allison.

He continued to share praise with their construction partners at Metcon Construction Inc. including CEO and President Aaron Thomas, and Project Executive Ryan Parker.

“It pays to have true, true partners, but there's a lot outside of your control, right? You can have a plan, but you've got to have people ready to come and do the job, and you’ve got to have people really ready to do the job at the price you want them to do the job,” said Allison.

Allison also shared that there was a point during the project where it may look like developers would have to scale the project back, but due to collaboration and open discussion between the partners led to being able to add more to the building than was originally planned.

(From left to right:) Dean of FSU’s College of Education Dr. Chandrika Johnson, FSU Provost Dr. Monica Terrell Leach and FSU Chancellor Darrell T. Allison take their turns signing the beam.
Photo provided by: FSU

“The new project is long overdue, but we were founded on education. And to see this, just after over 150 years with a new College of Education it's really powerful,” said Dr. Monica Terrell Leach, provost and senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at FSU. “The seven founders had a vision, and the vision was to educate the community here in the Fayetteville and surrounding areas. I couldn't be more honored to have been a part of helping develop this building, and I can't wait to see what it will look like in the end.”

Leach shared that faculty were intentional with their designs and the spirit of the original founders of the university will be present in the new facility.

“It was very intentional in my conversations, for the architects to identify sevens throughout the building. So, in its development in architectural design, there are sevens throughout the building, which speaks to our amazing seven founders who with $136 founded Fayetteville State University. So, I was very adamant about that and the significance of that, and they took it and ran with it. And when I saw the renderings, I was just so proud.”

The new facility, which is expected to be completed in the fall of 2025, has been a long-awaited addition for FSU’s College of Education, which for now shares the Butler Building with another department.

Dr. Chandrika Johnson, dean of FSU’s College of Education, knows firsthand what this new facility will mean for students and faculty as an FSU alumna and faculty member.

“It’s been a long time coming. I went here [for] undergrad, so it's been a couple times that they said we were going to have a new building, and it didn't happen. So, for me to be part of this historic event is really, really great,” shared Johnson.

She also shared that the expanded space will allow students to grow programs offered by the College of Education.

“We’re going to have a reading clinic in there, which we already have one in the old building, but it's going to be bigger and better,” said Johnson. “Without God, it wouldn't happen. Us working together and just being team players, Fayetteville State is a great school, and the chancellor has been great with helping us get the things we need and motivating us. It’s been awesome.”

The full live stream of the steel topping ceremony can be viewed online here.

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