PRESS RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 17, 2025
SJR State dedicates student housing as “Beck Hall”
Terry Thomas and Joe Pickens unveiled the official name - "Beck Hall"
What began 17 years ago as a vision to provide affordable, on-campus housing for students attending the St. Johns River State College Palatka Campus has become a reality for President Joe Pickens and the SJR State college community.
More than 100 gathered to celebrate the long-awaited housing solution for student-athletes and Florida School of the Arts students who relocate to Putnam County each year. The $20M facility opened its doors in August to welcome 123 students for the fall semester.
Pickens unveiled the facility’s official name – “Beck Hall” - honoring a multi-decade commitment to the college by the late Carl Beck, the former CEO of the Beck Automotive Group in Palatka. Beck, a community-minded businessman, honorably served the College as a Trustee and as a Foundation Chairman Emeritus. “We are pleased to honor him today and immortalize his legacy as we celebrate this beautiful facility,” Pickens said.
Student housing was made possible with the college providing the land and the Sloan family providing the funding to build and operate the facility. Currently, the Beck Automotive Group is a family-owned organization that includes Breck Sloan as its president and CEO.
“Breck, Kimberly and Brad Sloan, all former SJR State students, did something for us that we could never have done for ourselves,” Pickens said. “Through our public-private partnership, this dream that started years ago on a piece of paper is now reality.”
“This is what can happen when we choose to trust each other,” Pickens continued. “What I hope you get out of this is a renewed thought of believing and trusting in us as Putnam Countians in what we can be and what this county can be. While it is Beck Hall, it’s also known as the hall that trust created and a catalyst for what trust can create elsewhere in this community.”
Pickens closed the ceremony quoting the student guest speaker and housing resident Lyle Lopez, “This building can help make dreams come true… It makes this campus and college better,” Pickens repeated. “If this college is better, then our community is better.”
Historically, Florida's state colleges (formerly community colleges) were designed to be commuter institutions and had limited or no on-campus housing. The state legislature places restrictions on how dorms are funded. Public funds and tuition revenue cannot be used for the construction, debt service, maintenance, or operation of dormitories.
Special thanks goes to Axis Management, Inc., Barwick Banking Company, Beck Trust, Capstone on Campus Management (COCM), CRG Architects, Marble Today, Kurt Musser, The Honorable Bobby Payne and Revi Construction.
The facility offers 32 four-bedroom units with two bathrooms, a living room, eating nook, and kitchen. Each floor will house one studio unit for a resident assistant (RA). Rooms are accessible from interior corridors through keycard access. On-site laundry facilities and a management staff suite is included. Student activities spaces for billiards, ping pong, gaming, and other entertainment are also included.
Centrally located on the campus near the softball and baseball fields, the 60,000-foot residence hall provides easy access to the gymnasium, Florida School of the Arts, classrooms and student center.
Since 1958, St. Johns River State College has built a solid reputation as a full-service college dedicated to meeting the educational and workforce training needs of its Northeast Florida district. With campuses in Orange Park, Palatka and St. Augustine, SJR State is truly the community’s college, enriching a diverse population of students ranging in age from 16 to 60 and beyond.
SJR State continues its comprehensive educational role by expanding its services and programs while continuing its focus on the Associate in Arts (transfer) degree, Florida School of the Arts, and more than 30 Associate in Science degrees and certificates. SJR State has also expanded its mission to include 10 baccalaureate degrees.
Photos from the ceremony are on Flickr.
Beck Hall ribbon cutting ceremony