AT THE CAMPUS CORE — Renderings of the proposed four-story, 300+ bed residence hall, planned for the center of Stetson University’s campus in DeLand. “The siting brings more students to the core, so there are less students traversing and crossing Amelia [Avenue],” Sara Stein, principal and architect of architectural firm Page said at a June 3 City Commission meeting.
Stetson University is one step closer to breaking ground for a 305-bed residence hall, located in the center of campus.
“The four-story residence hall is scheduled to open in 2026 near the Carlton Union Building and Templeton Fountain expanding the heart of the DeLand campus with an amphitheater, open green spaces and gathering places for students,” according to a Stetson University April press release.
A site plan submitted to the DeLand City Commission was approved June 3.
A competitive market
“One year ago, we presented a master plan for housing to Stetson University,” Sara Stein, principal and architect of architectural firm Page, told DeLand city commissioners at the June 3 City Commission meeting.
“Step one of that housing master plan was to consider a new 300-bed residence hall right at the heart of campus that addressed several opportunities,” Stein said.
“As Stetson is looking to its peers and competitors and trying to remain competitive in the market, there was a housing type in their portfolio that was missing,” Stein said. “The enrollment of the school is not increasing.”
Rather, single occupancy housing will be made available.
“First year halls [of] Smith and Gordis — those buildings will be ‘de-densified.’ There’s a large student demand for single rooms, and right now there’s double occupancy. So for every room that has a roommate, one of those will likely live in the new building, while one is in the older building,” Stein said.
“We did complete a parking study. There’s no increase in students, so there’s no increased traffic, no increased parking requests,” Stein added.
The heart of campus
Stein described a vision for the proposed building that will strive to benefit residents and commuter students by encouraging increased activity within the center of Stetson’s campus.
“The siting brings more students to the core, so there are less students traversing and crossing Amelia [Avenue],” Stein said. “Starting at Palm Court, through the Stetson Green, Libby Lawn, right in front of the Carlton Union Building and the Templeton Fountain — there is a strong opportunity to create an extended living room, across from the CUB … This residence hall will have a great room, which will be considered … a place for commuter students and others in the community to be able to spend time in, in addition to the area of residences which will be beyond a secured door.”
COMING IN — Above, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office SWAT team and Stetson University took advantage of the June 5 opportunity for some “real world training” by utilizing a campus building that is scheduled to be demolished. At right, a member of the Volusia Sheriff’s Office SWAT team utilizes a battering ram on a mock door during a June 5 training held at Stetson University.
A unique opportunity
The planned demolition of a two-story, brick building located on Bert Fish Drive — which is on a portion of the proposed site-plan footprint — provided a unique opportunity for a collaborative safety training effort between the Volusia Sheriff’s Office SWAT team and Stetson University.
“Stetson opens its campus every year for training by local police and firefighters as part of the university’s close working relationship with area governments,” according to a June 4 Stetson University press release. “The university also has made other buildings available for training when they were set for demolition.”
On June 5, Volusia Sheriff’s Office SWAT team members gathered at Stetson to engage in exercises that helped officers gain experience for both general response training and specific to Stetson’s campus.
“The SWAT team can do more hands-on operations and use tactics and equipment that’s going to damage the house,” Stetson University Director of Public Safety and Emergency Management Coordinator Jim Kurtz said. “They really appreciate that.”
As exercises utilizing armored vehicles, battering rams and additional equipment commenced, Volusia Sheriff’s Office Capt. Benyamin Yisrael described some of the benefits of training in a “real world” environment, and specifically, in relation to Stetson’s campus.
“We’ll set up scenarios … we may have an active threat in there, an armed subject. We may have a downed officer or downed civilians … so each level will increase the threats and the challenges they have and test them,” Yisrael said.
“In the event that we have to respond to this campus, we’re familiar with the campus, we’re familiar with public safety,” Yisrael said. “This is a great opportunity. I appreciate the partnership we have with Stetson, the City of DeLand fire services … and we’re going to take full advantage of it.”
