Texas A&M University Summer Construction

[aggie0083]

http://www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper...om&mkey=1459993

In fall 2006, Texas A&M students will return to a campus undergoing extreme renovation.

Several major construction projects will begin in summer 2006 and continue into the fall that will dramatically alter the look of A&M's campus and affect the way students are able to get around campus.

Four of the most immediate and important projects are: the groundbreakings of two physics buildings on the north side of campus, the groundbreaking of the Interdisciplinary Life Science Complex near the Simpson Drill Field, the remodeling of Ross Street between Ireland and North Bizzell, and the building of an athletic complex near Kyle Field, which will provide additional practice facilities for the football team as well as many other teams on campus, said Joel Wixson, the student representative for the Council for the Built Environment.

The construction will lead to changes in the way students get around campus. The most obvious change will be the construction on Ross Street. Current plans have the street, which has been closed to eastbound traffic for several years, being widened. The CBE, which is overseeing construction and ensuring that it adheres to the campus master plan, plans to have the street run both ways with a median.

A consequence of the construction will be the loss of hundreds of parking spaces. The CBE estimates a loss of about 1,200 student, faculty and staff parking spaces. This initial estimate drew harsh criticism, especially from professors who were faced with the decision to either move to a parking space significantly farther from their classes and offices, or pay more than double the price of their current permits for a spot in the parking garage.

"The (Transportation Construction Committee's) plans have been discussed through an open forum and numerous meetings, including the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and the Distinguished Professors Executive Committee," Joe Powell, associate vice president for business affairs, said in an e-mail. "The recommendation to eliminate numbered reserved parking spaces has been placed on hold. Further review is necessary to accommodate the 604 individuals who will be displaced from PA42 and PA5."

The athletics building will be a major addition to the area southwest of Kyle Field. The buildings will have brick in the bottom and inflatable roofs that allow for the department to change the building's climate. One building will be used exclusively for football and the other will be used for several sports, including tennis and baseball.

"The covered practice facility will help several of our programs compete on a higher level," Jerry F. Holditch, who donated $1 million for the project, said in a press release. "When it's 101 degrees outside, it's going to be nice to be able to go inside and still get a great practice. I also understand that you have to keep up with facility improvements for recruiting."

The Life Sciences Building, which will be located adjacent to the O.R. Simpson Drill Field, will be the largest building on campus when it is completed, Wixson said. It will only stand three stories, but it will span more than 100 yards. The facility will be used by several different departments and will likely house students in all colleges at some point in their careers.

The new George P. and Cynthia W. Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy and the George P. Mitchell '40 Physics Building will be located north of the Blocker Building. The two buildings will be funded by a donation by George P. Mitchell, who commissioned Michael Graves and Associates, a world-renowned architecture firm that usually does not do projects in Texas.

The construction projects will be underway when students return in the fall. Later in the semester work is expected to begin on vehicle and pedestrian underpasses that will go under Wellborn Road and connect Olsen Boulevard with Lamar and Jones Streets around the Albritton Clock Tower, Wixson said.

"The goals of these underpasses are to increase traffic flow and connect the east and west campus," Wixson said.

The goal is to make the two parts of campus seem less separate, he said.

The "Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building":

VIDEO:

http://ilsb.tamu.edu/tamu.flv/view

The "George P. and Cynthia W. Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy and the George P. Mitchell '40 Physics Building":

Athletic Indoor Facility:

VIDEO:

http://agclips.com/images/indoor.wmv

The Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine (in Research Park)

Edited July 2, 2006 by aggie0083

[Scotch]

I've moaned about this before on this site, but I really wish College Station voters would have approved funding for their potion of LoTrack in the early 90's(Bryan and Texas A&M had already pledged their portions, and TxDots contribution would have been extremely generous).

The plan called for numerous ground level overpasses of Wellborn and the railroad tracks through the Texas A&M campus, grade separation/interchanges at Villa Maria, University, Bush and 2818, as well as a few more bridges over the lowered Welborn/tracks such as at F&B/Old College and at a location between Bush and 2818.

Now fifteen years later construction is finally beggining/about to begin at the numerous problem intersections.

Ross Street has been a mess for at least ten years, it is amazing it has taken A&M so long to find a solution.

The Mitchell Physics building should be a nice looking building, especially since Michael Graves and Associates will design it.

Edited May 3, 2006 by Scotch

[aggie0083]

I've moaned about this before on this site, but I really wish College Station voters would have approved funding for their potion of LoTrack in the early 90's(Bryan and Texas A&M had already pledged their portions, and TxDots contribution would have been extremely generous).

The plan called for numerous ground level overpasses of Wellborn and the railroad tracks through the Texas A&M campus, grade separation/interchanges at Villa Maria, University, Bush and 2818, as well as a few more bridges over the lowered Welborn/tracks such as at F&B/Old College and at a location between Bush and 2818.

Now fifteen years later construction is finally beggining/about to begin at the numerous problem intersections.

Ross Street has been a mess for at least ten years, it is amazing it has taken A&M so long to find a solution.

The Mitchell Physics building should be a nice looking building, especially since Michael Graves and Associates will design it.

I still can't believe Lo-track didn't pass. It would've made the whole area easier to travel and look a whole lot better. Even after all is said and done there still will not be an underpass at Old Main, it's not in the plans. While on the subject, the University at Wellborn overpass needs some much needed aesthetic upgrades.

Ross Street was scheduled to been completed with the whole New Main construction 3 or 4 years ago but once they started building the Jack E Brown ChemE building (and thus closing Spence Street) they couldn't continue since it would cut off access to the central part of campus. I was told that either Spence Street or Ross Street needs to be open at all times because of deliveries needed for research in the Chemistry Building.

It will be interesting to see how they widen it and add a median though. There is a lot of room between the north side of the street and the buildings, I wonder if the trees that are there now, just to the north of Ross street, will become the median and another 2 lane road placed in what is now sidewalk.

The physics buildings sound interesting. Hopefully there will be a rendering of the upcoming buildings on the Michael Graves and Associates web site soon.

This Life Sciences center sounds interesting. The future largest building on campus. Hard to imagine. It will change the whole center of campus, but I guess that's what they are going for.

I'm glad to see some of these parking lots go, even though it means inconvenience to some. I just wonder how long it will take for additional parking garages to come up to take their place like these two from the CMP.

Edited May 3, 2006 by aggie0083

[aggie0083]

[moved to first post]

Edited July 2, 2006 by aggie0083

[Bryan Guy]

The new Life Sciences & Mitchell buildings seem to be a major break from standard architecture on A&M's campus. You can see just behind the Mitchell building the basically brand new Chemical Engineering building which is very typical for A&M...tan brick, angular, etc. University Drive is going to be almost unrecognizable. I'm not saying these are bad additions. A little change will be nice.