MACON — Mercer University will break ground on a major Macon campus improvement project on Wednesday at 11 a.m. The groundbreaking will be held on Porter Patch, the open area on the site of the former Porter Gym. In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in Penfield Hall adjacent to Porter Patch. The project will transform the appearance of the central part of Mercer’s Macon campus from the University Center to the historic Quad and from Greek Village past Tarver Library. The project is named Cruz Plaza for the Cruz family of Puerto Rico. Members of the Cruz family, Mercer officials and members of the Mercer community will be on hand for the event.
The Plaza, designed by the Atlanta landscape architecture firm HGOR, will include new seating and gathering areas, a prominent water feature and major landscaping improvements. It will incorporate major new gateways to the interior of campus around Tarver Library, the University Center and Connell Student Center, incorporating the current Porter Patch and W.G. Lee Park.
Trustee Milton L. Cruz, a 1982 graduate of Mercer’s College of Liberal Arts and chairman, president and CEO of Medholdings Inc., along with his wife, Aileen Rosso, and his father Juan L. Cruz Rosario and sister Zoraida Cruz Torres – who are also Mercer graduates – provided the lead gift for the project.
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