The UT System Board of Regents approved 10 UT-Austin construction projects costing more than $485 million at its meeting Thursday.
Some of the biggest projects include new buildings for liberal arts and communication, as well as a new Experimental Science Building, which is the most expensive with a proposed cost of $175 million.
"It's a very big building and very expensive, but necessary," said Peter Riley, associate dean for research and facilities in the College of Natural Sciences. "It will significantly help the department of chemistry and the school of biological sciences."
The high price for the new building is due to the costs of building modern laboratories, Riley said.
The new liberal arts building is the next highest on the price list, with a proposed
$100 million budget.
"For the past decade, a space shortage has been one of the College of Liberal Arts' most serious challenges," said Randy Diehl, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. "The current plan is to construct a 200,000-square foot building on the East Mall, adjacent to the planned Student Activities Center."
The College of Communication proposed a $9 million increase to the cost of its new building, bringing it to
$54 million, to accommodate a KUT Radio studio.
"About 33 percent of the building will be for offices, about
33 percent for classrooms, and 33 percent will be for public places, such as KUT, a student activities center, research centers and a large auditorium," said Roderick Hart, the communication college's dean.
The regents approved $20 million in additional funds for a new biomedical engineering building that will house College of Pharmacy offices.
This brings the project to more than $77 million.
South end zone modifications will also be made in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
In the proposal, between 3,500 and 4,000 seats will be added to the area, in addition to improving the Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletic Center and remodeling offices in Belmont Hall, said DeLoss Dodds, UT men's athletics director.
Jester East Dormitory's fifth floor will undergo renovations this summer as a prototype for renovating the entire building. Of the projects approved, this will be the only project managed by UT-Austin, not UT System.
UT Systems Facilities and Planning Senior Project Manager Jim Shackelford said of these projects, the buildings scheduled to be finished last are the communication and liberal arts buildings, which should be completed between late 2011 and 2012.
Be the first to comment on this article!