COLUMBUS, GA (June 9, 2025) – With Georgia’s Fiscal Year 2026 state budget finalized, Columbus State University will begin planning a $22.2 million center for advanced technologies—including robotics, engineering and space science—on its Main Campus. The facility, which will serve as the new home for its Coca-Cola Space Science Center, marks a significant milestone in the university’s history and its commitment to cutting-edge science, engineering and workforce development.
“This is the first state-funded new academic building at Columbus State University in over 20 years,” said President Stuart Rayfield. “This will be a multi-use facility—a hub for advanced technology and a pipeline for cultivating technologically literate students from kindergarten through college.”
The approximately 36,000-square-foot building will be located on Columbus State’s Main Campus, parallel to Interstate 185 across the parking lot from the Elizabeth Bradley Turner Center. It will support the university’s rapidly growing robotics engineering program—which has expanded from just six students to more than 100 undergraduate and graduate majors in only a few years—and serve as a dynamic collaboration between Columbus State, the Muscogee County School District and key regional partners.