Educational Research and Development Center (ERDC) was the brainchild of Dr. Billy Williams and the desire of President Crosby. The program was created as a laboratory for on-going educational research and development to explore the approach and methodology of the basic curriculum for the public school systems of this region. Student enrollment would consist of children of the university faculty, the administration and staff and students from the public school system.

This would be the first academic building complex seen upon arriving on the campus of UWF and the architects, Ellis Bullock & Assoc. of Pensacola, came up with a most unusual "footprint" for the project. The functions were broken down to six basic units, three on each side of an open, but covered, walkway, stepping up the hillside, thus not disturbing the site as much as having one massive structure. The current "movement" in architectural circles was to expose the utilities-- heating and cooling duct, electrical conduits, plumbing pipes, TV cables--all are visible, except in the offices.

Buildings 77 and 78, occupied in 1980, continue to maintain educational research ties, now designated the Educational Research Center for Child Development (ERCCD) and shares space with a number of other programs.

The Next Larger Picture by John E. Jarvis, Jr. Published by the University of West Florida Foundation, Inc., 2008.