Tennis Champ Andre Agassi Dedicates Ben Franklin Statue At Local School

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PEMBROKE PINES (CBSMiami) – Tennis champion Andre Agassi paid a visit Friday to the Franklin Academy Pembroke Pines.

Agassi joined students and staff at a ceremony to celebrate the middle and high school campus and the school's partnership with the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund.

As part of the ceremony, Agassi and school leaders unveiled a new statue of Benjamin Franklin prominently displayed in the school's sports field. The statue was created by award-winning sculptor George Lundeed, a Fulbright-Hayes Scholar who studied at the Academia de Belle Arte in Florence, Italy.

The 125,000-square-foot campus – built from the ground up – is home to Franklin Academy Pembroke Pines middle and high school and features specialty rooms for band and art, computer and science labs, athletic fields, jogging paths, and a state-of-the-art gymnasium with an elevated indoor running track.

The site was developed by the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund which provides resources and real estate expertise to high-performing charter school operators across the nation.

Franklin Academy Pembroke Pines middle and high school campus is the third Franklin campus developed by Turner-Agassi. Previously, the fund worked alongside Franklin to open schools in Cooper City and Boynton Beach.