Historic Elizabeth Hall has a new elevator and bathrooms. A new mural was added for the School of Music in the main entrance of Presser Hall. The Edmunds Center received upgraded seating for fans and new team rooms, showers and lockers for student-athletes.

These are just a few of the renovation projects that took place this summer on Stetson’s DeLand campus and will greet students as they move in for the Fall 2024 semester.

Student-athletes already have been arriving on campus. International students start moving in Tuesday, Aug. 13, and new incoming students arrive Saturday, Aug. 17, for Move-in Day. Residence halls open for all students Sunday, Aug. 18.

Here’s a summary of campus improvements that took place over the summer.

Elizabeth Hall

After years of planning, an elevator has been installed in Elizabeth, improving accessibility to the second and third floors. New restrooms were added to each floor. New stairs and a new ramp were built outside to facilitate improved access to the building.

Faculty and staff will move back in to the building Monday, Aug. 12. Students will have access as soon as they are back on campus. Final inspection of the new elevator will take place Friday, Aug. 16, with the anticipation that it will be in use by the first day of classes Thursday, Aug. 22.

Edmunds Center

All the spectator seating has been replaced inside the Edmunds Center, adding more comfortable and attractive seats. Fans will also be welcomed back with a new paint scheme in the lobby and inside the gym. The flooring was refinished as well.

All the team rooms were renovated, with new showers and new lockers. The restrooms in the lobby also underwent renovation. Planning is in progress for the next phase of the renovation, which will include an elevator.

New Residence Hall

Workers are preparing the site east of the Carlton Union Building for a new 305-bed residence hall that will enhance the residential living experience for students and provide a new hub on campus for them to gather and study.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new four-story residence hall will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21, at the construction site just east of the Templeton Fountain. The new hall is scheduled to open in 2026.

Carlton Union Building

The Coffee Shop proudly will be brewing Starbucks Coffee, scheduled to start as early as Aug. 16, and the space has been refreshed with new paint and lighting along with some new furnishings and decorations. Also, look out for upgrades to the patio during the fall semester.

The north side of the second floor is undergoing quite a few changes. The Collaboratorium is now a 24-hour dedicated study area; there is a Peace Room for quiet reflection, prayer, meditation and relaxation; and the Student Club Lounge is reservable for events and available for students to use when not reserved. In the coming weeks, there are also plans to relocate the Hatter Pantry to that area, add a piano to the north landing, and install a Faculty, Staff and Student art gallery in the North hallway in partnership with the Hand Art Center. 

Several office moves occurred over the summer. Religious and Spiritual Life and Fraternity and Sorority Life teams are now located on the south hallway of the second floor, while Student Development and Campus Vibrancy and the Director of Veteran Services are near Lee’s Garage, as is Community Engagement. 

The Lynn Dining Commons now has signage above each station to make wayfinding easier and reduce lines when people are new to the space.

In addition, Hatter Streats has a new theme: Smoked – a Mesquite-inspired barbeque.

There’s a new beverage vendor, too. Over the summer Stetson’s beverage sponsorship transitioned from Coca Cola to Pepsi, as did the vending, retail and fountain products across campus. Pepsi offers a wide variety of popular beverages and also distributes Dr. Pepper products in the area. Some Coca-Cola products can still purchased in the bookstore. 

School of Music

Presser Hall received a new mural and is also getting new exterior doors. The new doors are finished at the north entrance, and the new doors at the east entrance will be completed in September. On the third floor, vinyl flooring in the hallway was replaced with carpet to improve the acoustics around the practice rooms.

In McMahan Hall, new flooring was installed in Feasel Rehearsal Hall and in the percussion practice rooms. 

Residence Halls 

Many residence halls were upgraded over the summer. 

• University Village Apartments: The buildings were painted on the inside with a new color scheme. The flooring of every apartment was replaced and lights, ceiling fans and plumbing fixtures were upgraded. 
• Emily Hall: All public areas were repainted with a new color scheme and new room number signage was added.
• Stetson Cove, Palms and Oaks: Apartments were repainted with a new color scheme. 
• Hatter Hall: The kitchen on the first floor was renovated and expanded, and now opens more into the lounge space. 
• Nemec Hall: Landscape and curb appeal upgrades were done on the south side of the building with a new outdoor seating area. 
• Sorority Houses: Houses received new building identification signage on front and rear of houses to improve house identification in the newly opened pedestrian area on what previously was Bert Fish Drive.

Lynn Business Center

Three large classrooms — 122, 123, 124 — on the first floor were renovated. New carpet, seating and paint and whiteboards were added, along with new technology.

Chilled Water Loop

Stetson uses an energy-efficient system for cooling, sending chilled water from a central chiller plant in a loop around campus. This chilled water loop was extended across Woodland Boulevard and now cools Allen Hall, Flagler Hall and Davis Hall, which will reduce electrical consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and eliminate the noise of standalone chillers at each of those three buildings. 

DeLand Hall

The front doors of DeLand Hall are being restored. These are the original doors — dating to 1884 — and when finished, will look brand new.

Wilson Athletic Center

The exterior of the building was painted with new colors.

– Andrea Mujica