UT Arlington administration is planning for big updates to the campus, including a boutique hotel, new residential halls and updated or new academic buildings.
The details of the university’s plan were shared at a recent town hall in Arlington.
John Hall, the university’s vice president for administration and economic development, said the UTA’s plan hopes to prepare the institute for future students while integrating the campus into the larger landscape of downtown Arlington.
A part of that will come with the creation of “gateways” and a “front door” for the university, Hall said at the Nov. 6 town hall.
The front door will be designed to look like the main entrance of the campus for visitors and potential students. Hall said it will be based around the University Center, on UTA Boulevard.
Surface parking lots around the University Center would be transformed into green space while more development around the area would draw those unfamiliar with the campus to the front door, Hall said.
Gateways would also help to define the campus' limits, Hall said. The gateways would be designed to simultaneously differentiate the campus from the rest of the downtown area while complementing the aesthetics and theme of the surrounding area. Planners have identified three gateways: the West Gateway at Davis Street and Greek Row Drive and the North Gateway and South Gateway, both at Cooper Street on either end of the campus.
The surface parking around the University Center wouldn’t be the only to go — the master plan calls for most of the campus’ lots to be replaced with garages that will shrink the parking footprint and allow for more buildings and green space.
Some of those buildings would serve the university’s new hospitality management program, according to Hall. A new hospitality management building would be attached to a boutique hotel Hall said would give the university an opportunity to bring in cash while giving students in the program hands-on experience.
With enrollment expected to surpass 50,000 within the next 10 years, up from around 41,000 students, the university will need to offer more beds and class space.
Hall said at the meeting that the plan would see more residential space for students and more academic buildings to serve a growing student population.
The master plan aligns with the university’s strategic plan for 2030, “Shared Dreams, Bright Future.” It would expand UTA’s footprint on its 420 acre campus, with more than 100 buildings and 7 million square feet of facilities, KERA News partner Fort Worth Report wrote in May.
The university’s plan would also see research expenditures increase from $155 million to $300 million and see UTA hire an additional 100 faculty and researchers by 2030, according to Fort Worth Report.
Hall said part of the plan would involve engineering to ensure good rainwater drainage into two small creeks that feed into Johnson Creek, which the city is working to improve in a separate project.
Other projects would involve increasing the campus’ density, making the area more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly with wide bike and pedestrian paths through and around campus. A new one-stop-shop for students services could also be in the cards, especially with plans to rework the University Center.
That one-stop-shop would house student services and a student success center, placed to be more visible and accessible than the current home for those services in the University Center.
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