To Be Named For Jim W. Henderson, Chair Of ERAU Board Of
Trustees
The Daytona Beach campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
held a groundbreaking ceremony March 17 for the new Jim W.
Henderson Administration and Welcome Center. Construction of the
$12 million, 35,000-square-foot building will begin in about a
month and is expected to be finished in spring 2012. The building
will be located at the main entrance to the campus off Clyde Morris
Boulevard, on the former site of the Spruance Hall administration
building, which was damaged in a 2006 tornado and subsequently
razed.
The new building is named for Jim Henderson, chairman of
Embry-Riddle's Board of Trustees. He is the retired president, CEO,
and vice chairman of Brown & Brown Inc., one of the largest
independent insurance intermediaries in the nation. "We are pleased
and proud to name this beautiful new building for someone who is
central to the lifeblood of the University, who leads by example,
and who has done a great job of guiding the growth of Embry-Riddle
over the years," said University President John P. Johnson at the
groundbreaking ceremony. "In addition, I want to thank Jim, Brown
& Brown, and all the others whose generous donations have made
this new building possible."
In his remarks at the ceremony, Henderson said, "Thank you so
much for this honor for doing something that I love. What I've
learned in life is that friendship motivates us to accomplish great
things together."
The new building will serve as a welcoming information center
for students and their families, guests, and members of the local
community. A 350-seat hall will accommodate community events as
well as those of the University. The Henderson Center will also
house University administration offices and a meeting room for the
Board of Trustees.
Jim Henderson
Other attendees at the ceremony included Jim Henderson's wife,
Carole; Embry-Riddle's Board of Trustees; Mori Hosseini, vice
chairman of the Board of Trustees and chairman of the Facilities
& Capital Planning Committee; Chris Hardesty, Embry-Riddle
director of planning and construction management; and architect Joe
Thompson of Gresham, Smith, and Partners, the firm that designed
the new building. The local community was represented by the mayor
of Daytona Beach, Glenn Ritchey, and the chairman of the Volusia
County Council, Frank Bruno.
The campus is midway through a $178 million construction boom
that began in 2005. Nearing completion is the $22.1 million,
99,500-square-foot James Hagedorn Aviation Complex, which
encompasses a flight operations center, a fleet maintenance hangar,
and classrooms and labs for the Aircraft Maintenance Science
Department. Other construction in various stages of planning and
design includes a $29.5 million College of Arts & Sciences
building (2013 estimated completion), a $31.3 million Student Union
(2015), a $3.5 million Athletics Services building (2015), and a
$32.5 million Academic Center (2016).