About
The Charles L. Blount Center
In 1988, the City of Gainesville deeded to the Santa Fe College Endowment Corporation
the Old Train Depot on N.W. 6th Street for the purpose of establishing an educational
center that would be accessible to those living in and around the downtown area. Renovation
of the old train station was the responsibility of the Endowment Corporation. All
funds for this project came from the private sector and involved the establishment
of a major steering committee composed of approximately 20 important business and
community leaders who served as "ambassadors of good will" throughout the community.
The Blount Center opened in 1990 in the renovated 6th Street railroad depot offering over 50 college courses for A.A. and A.S. degree programs during the fall term, and later expanded in 1993 with the addition of the renovated Gainesville Gas Co. Building, and again in 2006 with the new Blount Classroom Building.
What once served as the main source of transportation for tourism and agricultural
products, now stands Santa Fe College's Blount Center. Mirroring the Old Train Depot,
the newly renovated building was transformed into an outreach and educational facility,
housed in a historically African-American neighborhood in the downtown Gainesville
area. The building's development was inspired by the need to provide an educational
facility within the downtown complex that would serve the existing and future populations.
Meeting the demands of the Blount Centers growing student population gave rise to
the development of the Charles L. Blount General Classroom Building. Officially opening
in January 2006, the educational center offered its first academic schedule to include:
courses towards an associate of art and sciences degree programs, prerequisites for
health sciences and business programs, adult education, and academic advising.
The General Classroom Building underwent renovations in 2017 and was transformed into a general education center with an inclusive learning lab. Services offered are to include: computer lab access, printing, and tutoring.
The Blount Hall expansion project was completed in 2022 and opened in Fall 2022 as
a state-of-the-art education center in downtown Gainesville. The expanded facility
increases access to higher education in East Gainesville, supports growing business
and IT programs, and creates opportunities for entrepreneurship, technology, and economic
development throughout the college’s service district.
Automotive Training Center
The 17,200-square-foot Automotive Technology Training Center is scheduled to open
in Fall 2027. It will feature interactive classrooms with advanced diagnostic tools
and simulators, specialty teaching bays, and it will accommodate up to 60 students
each semester, supporting the College's Automotive Service Technology certification program and the Automotive Service Management Technology A.A.S. degree program efforts to meet the growing needs of regional employers.