Pugh Hall groundbreaking celebration

August 26, 2006

WHAT: Groundbreaking celebration for Jim and Alexis Pugh Hall, the future home of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service

WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 30, 9:30 a.m.

WHERE: The future Pugh Hall site, located next to Dauer Hall on Buckman Drive on the University of Florida campus.

PARKING INFORMATION: Due to parking and space limitations, the general public has not been invited to the event. Parking has been reserved for the media and all guests of the ceremony in a gated parking lot located behind Tigert Hall. Those planning to attend the Florida-Alabama game after the ceremony have permission to park in the reserved lot for the remainder of the day.

BACKGROUND: Jim and Alexis Pugh Hall is being constructed between Newell and Dauer Halls in the heart of UF’s historic district. The 40,000-square-foot facility will include a teaching auditorium and public space for lectures and events. It will be home to the university’s new Bob Graham Center for Public Service, which will provide students with opportunities to train for future leadership positions, meet current policymakers and take courses in critical thinking, language learning and studies of world cultures.

Jim Pugh received a bachelor’s degree in building construction from UF in 1963 and owns Epoch Properties, a company that builds hotels, timeshares and rental housing. He is also chairman of Epoch Management, a comprehensive real estate management firm. Alexis Pugh is the owner of Lakeshore Advertising Consultants in Orlando, which designs and produces collateral materials for clients in the multi-family housing industry. The couple has been friends with Bob Graham for nearly 50 years, when Mr. Pugh and Graham met at UF as fraternity brothers in Sigma Nu. Bob Graham earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from UF in 1959 and served 12 years in the Florida Legislature, two terms as governor of Florida and three consecutive terms in the U.S. Senate before retiring from public office in 2005.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Jim and Alexis Pugh, Bob and Adele Graham, University President Bernie Machen, CLAS Dean Neil Sullivan and CLAS Associate Dean for Administrative Affairs Jim Mueller will participate in an official groundbreaking ceremony at the conclusion of the speaking program, using gold-colored shovels and donning hard hats as the soil is officially broken. Because many news photographers will already be on campus to cover the Florida vs. Alabama football game, it would be an ideal time to take advantage of this photo opportunity.

CONTACT: For more information, contact Buffy Lockette in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at 352-846-2032 or editor@clas.ufl.edu.