• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Texas Christian University Announces $110 Million in Construction Plans

Posted on: Tuesday, 8 November 2005, 12:00 CST

By Patrick McGee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Nov. 8--FORT WORTH -- Texas Christian University unveiled plans Monday to bolster academic and student life with a $100 million construction project in the center of the campus.

A new student union will be built facing the existing union, which will be renovated, and new residential halls will flank the space between the buildings, officials announced.

"One of the things we want to do is to bring the academic programs and the residential programs together," said Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs.

"We're going to create an environment where students can rise to their highest potential."

TCU officials also announced a $10.5 million renovation for the School of Education. The façade on the building, which originally housed the divinity school, will be restored to its classical 1914 appearance, and an addition will triple its space.

"We're going to make the quality of the facility match the quality of the education," said TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini.

The education school project is expected to be complete by 2007, and the transformation in the center of campus by 2008, Boschini said.

With the upgrades, TCU hopes to attract better, not more, students, he said. TCU trustees froze undergraduate enrollment at 7,200 students, and the school has slightly fewer students registered.

"We've grown in the number of students, but we haven't filled in the infrastructure around them," Boschini said.

TCU will pay for the construction projects with donations and bonds. Brian Gutierrez, vice chancellor for finance and administration, said the university has a AA bond rating.

An increased emphasis on students living on campus has become a major -- and expensive -- focus of higher education in recent years; many schools are pouring millions into technologically up-to-date dorms and creating programs targeting freshman who live together.

Boschini said the new residence halls will encourage students to live on campus for more of their undergraduate career and to graduate within four years.

The project will add 1,000 new beds, bringing the total number of dorm beds on campus to 4,400.

More than 300 parking spaces will be eliminated, Boschini said, but 1,000 spaces will be added elsewhere.

Education Dean Samuel Deitz said he expects his school's new building and additional space will help recruit students and instructors because the project will allow for special modifications right down to each classroom.

"It's not only more space, it's better space," he said. "It's just really exciting all the things we'll be able to do."

-----

To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)

More News in this Category