Humanities Building (now Colbourn Hall): The Humanities and Fine Arts Building began construction in October 1972 with an initial price tag of $ 2,230,000.00. Under a new method of building construction, Florida Technological University (now UCF), became the first in the state that each step of the construction process was bid upon, therefore providing separate contractors for each step. A FuTUre article explains that problems arose from this new method of construction, indicating that there were 9 “prime contractors” that resulted in falling behind in construction until June 1973. Renaming of the Humanities building was in honor of UCF’s second president—President Colbourn. Located in front of the John T. Washington Center and slightly north of the Library, Colbourn Hall stands five stories high with each floor severing a separate function.
For instance, the 1st floor of Colbourn Hall, known as music rehearsal hall was specifically constructed for acoustical control. However, since the completion of the Visual Arts Building II in 2010, the goal of the music department is to move out of Colbourn Hall and into their new building. As of Fall 2010, no plans have been announced for what will become of the 1st floor in Colbourn Hall. The 2nd floor offers a language lab, audio-visual center, student vending area, lounge, and faculty counselors’ offices. While, the third floor houses classrooms and other offices, the 4th and 5th floor house departments such as English, History, Humanities, Foreign Languages, Judaic Studies, and Latin American Studies. In addition, the 4th and 5th floors offer several seminar rooms and graduate assistant offices.
