Samford University

decades, however, the university's plans for the development of other parts of the former lake bed often proved controversial with local residents. In the late 1990s, a large central section of the former lake bed became University Park which included a independently owned retirement community and a university-owned office building. A section west of the high school was developed as intramural athletic fields. In 2011 a track and soccer facility was added between the office building and the high school. In 2025, the university proposed a mixed-use residential, hotel, and retail complex called Creekside for the site of the track and soccer fields and adjoining lands. This would have increased the housing available to students within walking distance from campus and provided for other amenities typical of a residential university. Community concerns, however, led the university to withdraw the plan.
In 2025, the university announced the purchase of a second international study center, Finca de Samford in Costa …