Sneak peek inside (and out) of USCB’s new Hilton Head campus

The University of South Carolina’s new $25 million Hilton Head Island campus will be unveiled at a ribbon-cutting ceremony today, but we wanted to give you an early look at the home of the university’s baccalaureate program in hospitality management.

The campus is at One Sand Shark Drive, formerly known as Office Park Road on Hilton Head.

The 40,000-square-foot building — featuring a wood atrium, glass entries, and tabby columns and walkways — is located on the site of the original USCB Hospitality Management program, which operated from 1998 to 2003 at 21 Office Park Road.

The new facility, designed by Charleston-based Liollio Architecture and built by Bluffton-based Fraser Construction, has eight classrooms, two of which — a beverage laboratory and a demonstration kitchen — are hands-on, learning classrooms.

A fabrication laboratory will allow students to create marketing materials to display data collected from tourism surveys, marketing plans and menus.

When the island campus was announced, some residents in the Coligny-area were concerned the campus would cause even more congestion in the area.

The university wrote in a news release that students in the program will live on the Bluffton campus and that only juniors and seniors will receive instruction on Hilton Head.

Those students, whose classes will take place Monday through Thursday, will be transported to the island on shuttle buses. Freshmen and sophomores will take core courses in Bluffton.

Wednesday’s ceremony begins at 11 a.m with USCB Chancellor Al M. Panu delivering welcoming remarks.

An open house begins after the ribbon cutting, will continue until 4 p.m. and is open to the public.

Construction of the project, started in April, 2017, has been delayed several times due to weather. On Nov. 26, the campus will open to students.

This story was originally published November 13, 2018 at 4:35 PM.