UTSA Construction Update
Thanks to Tim Gannaway for the Under Construction portion.
UTSA as it exists today http://www.utsa.edu/ofpd/1604%20mast..._site_plan.jpg Masterplan for UTSA 1604 Main Campus http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/3...plan001re9.jpg UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Recreation center expansion - Courtyard with new pool and lazy river http://visionwarepk.com/cgiproxy.2.0...court_yard.jpg East Campus - Construction should begin within the year http://www.utsa.edu/ofpd/1604%20mast...ast_campus.jpg http://www.utsa.edu/ofpd/1604%20mast...arch_plaza.jpg http://www.utsa.edu/ofpd/1604%20mast...ge/commons.jpg Campus Parkway and Bridge - Connecting Central Campus with soon to be U/C East Campus http://www.utsa.edu/ofpd/1604%20mast.../connector.jpg Bell Tower at Bridge with Parkway runng below http://www.utsa.edu/ofpd/1604%20mast...rge/bridge.jpg UTSA's Future Sports Complex http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7...complexdd9.png A masterplan for this land is going being done. To include
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Cool. I'd like to see more of that bridge. Looks interesting.
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:previous: Yeah I'm looking most forward to the bridge too :tup:
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Those rendering were prior to the 125 acres UTSA purchased earlier this year. The land purchased is going to be used for most, if not all, the athletic facilities.
Most of the Master plan will remain the same HOWEVER, the proposed Football Stadium, Arena, Soccer Stadium, Baseball and Softball stadiums will be moved from the main campus to the 125 acres purchased (a short 2 minute ride). Assuming UTSA gets a football team in the near future, they wanted to divert any traffic from the main campus to the new land. Great post sirkingwilliam. My wife is currently attending UTSA and it's obviously changed since I attended a year and a half ago. With all the construction going on, it's nice to see that they have some sort of master organizational plan for the growing student body. They still haven't mastered the parking situation, although that seems to be a problem with most major universities. |
That master plan has been out for close to 5 years if not more. Some of the ideas are really great, but in reality much of it will not see the light of day. I say this cause i have a good friend who works at UTSA, and we discuss "new construction" every time we meet up. I would love to see all that stuff go up, but not all of it will. But there is always hope...
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They've been talking about a lot of that stuff since I was there in 2000-2003
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They have to be able to pay for everything and they have certain buildings prioritized. As time goes on, they may find they need more of one thing and less of another. Or, the money may not be available. |
East Campus will begin construction later this year. That is a sure thing.
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:previous: :irked: Were are you getting this information from. It is obviosuly incorrect. Unless you can prove it, with facts then i will believe it, until then you are wrong. I did some searching myself, and found nothing that says "East Campus" is under construction or anything is slated to start this year. The only thing was this:: "The UT System Board of Regents approved the construction of a $5million thermal plant on east campus. There was also a road built already connecting the remote Parking Lot # 13 off Valero Way to the main part of the 1604 Campus." Thats it, that is nothing, no new housing, research, academic buildings. Even the Office of Facilities website says nothing about it?????? Have a great day... :) |
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Well my source comes str8 from the UTSA heart. And when they say something they know what they are talking about. I am done talking about this. :dead: |
OFPD is notorious for not updating it's website. Sometimes it takes them six months to make their monthly update, yet they have a staffer who's main responsibility is to update fac/staff/students on projects and such. They do a horrible job at it. With 6 major construction projects going on, the least they could do would be a blog or some shit with weekly updates, percentages completed on projects, whats going on this week, etc. Since were (i'm taking some grad classes there right now) footing the bill for 4 of 6 of these projects through student use fees, the least they could do is communicate with us. Hell, they OWE us that much. They'll ramble to the student paper a few times a semester about pending projects, but they act like they are doing us a big favor with info updates. If it wasnt for the student fee projects, most of them wouldnt have jobs with the university. I find their attitude disrespectful and paternalistic.
/rant. So who the hell knows what is planned and what isnt. The 2020 plan (title of the master plan) is only a guide tho. It was dramatically re-done in 2004 and they have already veered from it; for example, the rec center is larger and further west than called for (only slightly) and the new dorms/student apartments (Laurel Village) is on the other side of Walter Brennan Blvd. from where it was supposed to go due to costs associated with elevation changes at the original location. (the new location looks to have the exact same damn elevation changes, but I'm no surveyor, so whatever). Also, the new Sam Barshop Drive, linking the north and south campus on the west side of the university will be built further east than what the the 2020 plan called for. The map of UTSA 'as it exists today' is dated to 2004, and does not show the presence of completed projects including the Garage 3 (the parking garage on the north side of campus visible from Loop 1604), the Roadrunner Cafe dining hall, the three new recreational intramural fields, the intramural field house, the Valero Way parking lots, or the East Campus connector road. Maybe Complex01 does have some inside info. But dude, dont get all butt-hurt cause people want to know sources. It happens all the time on this board cause others like to talk about 'potential' projects as if they had already broken ground. All of us here in SA have had our hearts broken about 15 times this last year over design and height changes in the convention center hotel, the Vidorra, etc. Also, were visual folx. Where there are references, there are usually more renderings, etc. As you know, we dig that shit. I do like the renderings for the east campus stuff. I'm not doubting your source, but if construction began on the east campus stuff, it will be the tinyest of baby steps over there. This is for several reasons; 1) There is absolutely NO infrastructure over on that part of campus, save a road they just put in (East campus connector road). It is not part of the new electrical distribution loop, is not serviced by any of the steam or chiller plants, and has no sewer, gas or water service. Sewer service can be reached by tying in to the main line under UTSA blvd, which was just upgraded three years ago. Water can come from the line running east of the campus under Valero Way. Gas and electrical service would have to be extended from the central campus, under the arroyo. That whole area has minimal topsoil, so there would have to be monumental drilling through the limestone just to lay services. They'll have to do all that anyhow someday, but that cost would be shouldered by the university and would run into the tens of millions of dollars. Sure they could fold that cost into an initial building project over there, but I would suspect that they would try to build out some of the rest of the core campus (north of the business building and HSS, south of the arts building, etc) before they start on the east campus, just to save some money. You know, putting off the huge associated expense as long as they could. But hell, if space for the sciences and engineering (the programs slated to be located on east campus) is that badly needed, they might have to move faster, but that brings issue #2... Funding. There is no currently identified or allocated funding for buildings on the East Campus. It hasnt even been identified as a priority by UTSA to the UT System through the 2011 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). (See: http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/meetings.htm) Can they add things to it, I'm sure, but from 2001 to present, UTSA has completed, or is building about a half a billion dollars worth of projects on the 1604 campus alone. East campus, just to get going is going to be expensive. Page 47 of the 2020 Master plan has a schedule of construction, expected funding, and completion dates through the end of the plan. It is available at http://www.utsa.edu/ofpd/1604%20mast...site/main.html I'm also intrigued as to where the 5-story 'south campus' parking garage is going to be built. It dosent even appear in the 2020 plan. I am curious about the construction timeline... Finally, the university has scheduled the "We've got game" student referendum on athletics funding (also known as the 'football vote') for September 11-12. The university has created a promotional video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aYOwQ0Pkq4 They got my vote. |
Timely...
Just saw that UTSA's director of Facilities will be leaving UTSA on August 31 to accept a position with the A&M system. Hopefully his replacement will make communication with fac/staff/students the priority that the current dude didn't. |
[QUOTE=TXlifeguard;3037244]OFPD is notorious for not updating it's website. Sometimes it takes them six months to make their monthly update, yet they have a staffer who's main responsibility is to update fac/staff/students on projects and such. They do a horrible job at it. With 6 major construction projects going on, the least they could do would be a blog or some shit with weekly updates, percentages completed on projects, whats going on this week, etc. Since were (i'm taking some grad classes there right now) footing the bill for 4 of 6 of these projects through student use fees, the least they could do is communicate with us. Hell, they OWE us that much. They'll ramble to the student paper a few times a semester about pending projects, but they act like they are doing us a big favor with info updates. If it wasnt for the student fee projects, most of them wouldnt have jobs with the university. I find their attitude disrespectful and paternalistic.
[QUOTE] I know this is important to you, as it would be to me as well. But to be honest 99.9% of the students could care less, hell most of them don't even really know what their fees are going towards. Their top priority is getting the projects done on time...not updating the students. If enough students complained, then Im sure it would become a high priority. Here at A&M there are AT LEAST a dozen or so major projects either underway or on the board. A&M does have a construction on campus page, but its basically an overview of the projects. The only way I get updates on construction projects is through my profs and students who are in the know (Im construction science btw) |
Has the new logo been released?
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http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuit...ads1/17481.gif On another note, I also left another email about a rendering that didn't make much sense to me. Below is a picture of Laurel Village, a new on-campus student housing that's almost complete. http://facilities.utsa.edu/Images/projects/lv-shep3.gif What I noticed is a 5-6 story parking garage in the background. Currently, there is a parking garage but it's only 2 stories. Did they plan on a 5-6 story but scaled back to only 2 (I hope not parking is miserable their)? I vaguely remember someone telling me that they built that garage with the capability of expanding it to 5 stories but I'm not really sure how that works. Anyways, with the limited amount of parking spaces on the north side of campus, it'd be nice to see them build another parking garage or update the one we currently have. |
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Thank you for giving us the link to the athletic video. It's important that this vote gets approved because regardless of your degree, universities as a whole are unfairly judged by athletics. I'm all about building equity in my degree, as should everyone who attended/graduated from UTSA. If this vote gets approved, they will be moving out of the Southland Conference (thank god). My best guess is that Conference USA would be a logical destination, seeing that we are not competitive enough for any one of the 6 major athletic conferences, including the Big 12. But we need this vote peeps, San Antonio is the ONLY major U.S. city without a Division I collegiate football team. It's embarassing and long overdo. |
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That rendering with the garage always confused the hell outta me, because the present garage is only 2 stories, and Laurel Village was supposed to be across the street from where it is now. So when they released the rendering, they did so without explanation (cause OFPD likes to half-ass it like that) and I kept thinking it was a really crappy drawing of Chisholm. It was only two months later that I read in the Paisano that it was the garage I was looking at. There has been discussion of expanding the two-story garage, but the un-sourced information posted here specifically called the garage a "South-Campus Parking Garage". The existing garage in question is decidedly on the north half of campus. It's actually one of the northern-most structures on that campus, so I am all confused, as usual. The other key to deciphering OFPD groundbreakings is to add six months to ANY project when they first announce the beginning of a project. And Yeah, texboy you're right. I've figured out that I am one of about 14 people on that campus who give a shit about construction and stuff. I'd think more people would take an interest, especially when they are in their cars hunting for spots taken up by all the projects. Not me tho. Got my garage permit for the second year in a row. No hunting for me. Best $260 I ever paid. |
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Will do. I was on the original planning committee for the rec & wellness center back in 95/96, have a good friend who was on the 2020 Master Plan committee, and several friends who are on the board of directors for the alumni association. So I'll hear stuff on occasion. I'm fascinated with the original construction of the campus, (on the early pages of the above sourced master plan) regarding the layout, walkability, and how they realized the unique opportunity they were in to do something unique. And they did. The original central core of the campus (JPL, HSS, MS, Science, Arts, and Physical Plant buildings) are one of the largest groupings of Brutalist architecture in the southern or southwest US (UT-Austin has some great Brutalist buildings too). |
Many of these projects posted last August have now been completed. The only major project still under construction is the new engineering building. Soon to begin will be athletics park (phase 1), Convocation center expansion, as well as graduate housing at East campus. I have also heard of plans for a new parking garage attached to the Main Bldg. as a priority for PTS. Keep in mind that UTSA really wants to become tier 1 by 2016 and will focus a lot of efforts on graduate facilities. East Campus will basically be the graduate school as most facilities will be catered toward graduate students. A new master plan (which has been developed largely around student input) should be released this semester that will include an updated timeline for projects.
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Thanks for the update!
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I know said quote is a year old.
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The new logo was finally unveiled in Feb of 2008. http://www.utsa.edu/today/images/graphics/newrr.jpg Rowdy also received an update. Previous: http://www.utsa.edu/pub/sombrilla/jp...dy-orange2.jpg Current: http://www.utsa.edu/pub/sombrilla/jp...TSA_RR_3C2.jpg |
I smell a rival!!! Hope the roadrunner can outrun a COUGAR
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Any new development on the athletic complex near Hausman and 1604? Has anything been said about what exactly they plan on building there?
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Have the UT board of regents approved the athletic fee hike? I'm pretty shocked there haven't been more regular updates on this in the E-N. You'd figure they'd be all over anything that would result in high-level football being in SA. Maybe since it isn't NFL, nobody thinks its a big deal?
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I'd expect to see construction begin at the athletics park within the next 6 months. The soccer stadium and track and field stadium have already been financed with money from the bond elections. They only currently have 1/3 the total $80 million needed. If the school hopes to build a national reputation for athletics programs by 2016 they need these facilities asap. Hopefully a large donor will fund at least the baseball stadium to earn naming rights. Here is a link with some info. on the athletics park - http://www.sanantonio.gov/2007bond/P...nformation.pdf |
Thanks for the link.
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Go Rowdies!
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From what I've heard, that's been the plan all along. I'm the wrong guy to ask tho, I have no clue how the NCAA works.
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C-USA will not happen until 2014.
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the hoops that they have to jump through to get there are pretty substantial. (just read the feasability study on the utsa website) |
Any idea what conference Texas State plans to join when they move up to
I-A football ? UTSA-TSU could become a pretty nice rivalry ? |
When and if everything happens that needs to happen this is how I think the conference thing should work out.
First I feel that befor UTSA is ever a FBS school UCF or E. Carolina, or both will be taken away by the Big East, which would not be good for conference USA. If this happens it opens the door for Texas St. and/or UTSA You could have an all Texas division: Houston, Rice, SMU, UTEP, UTSA, and Texas State, and an east division of Memphis, So. Miss, Tulane, UAB, Tulsa, and Marshall. Hopefully, noone feels compelled to attack me for this post (it has gotten crazy in other posts). This is purely speculation. First things first, no matter what anyone says, we are never going to get a pro football team in SA. There is a market for football here even with Tech, Texas, and A&M. One thing that SA has going for it is that the majority of its alumni still live in the area, due to it being a commuter (moving toward regional) school. |
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I wonder if UTSA is already scouting for players? I hope they're scouting local as SA produces good talent that has nowhere else to go but other colleges.
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^^^I don't see how they could do that without a coaching staff.
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You're right.
I thought they did hire a coach but that was UIW! lol |
Good update on where things stand
From the Paisano, UTSA's student paper:
STORY Football influences upgrades in athletic program Oscar Gonzalez Issue date: 8/26/08 UTSA is on the verge of announcing the start of football, a new $80 million athletic complex and a move toward a top level NCAA conference. UTSA athletic officials are awaiting permission from The University of Texas (UT) System to announce an athletic fundraising initiative to help establish a football program and move all 17 sports toward a Football Bowl Subdivision (Division 1A) conference. "At that point, we will be asking everyone-boosters to alumni -to help raise the funds needed," Athletic Director Lynn Hickey said. "Right now we are waiting to hear from the UT System to give us permission to announce the initiative. It could take four to five weeks." The move to establish football took shape after students approved a referendum last year to increase athletic fees and when the community approved $22.05 million City bonds and County tax elections. Budget increase The athletic department needs to raise $15 million from donors over the next five to seven years to increase its annual operations budget from $8 million to more than $20 million. When fully implemented, the student approved athletic fee will generate approximately $15 million annually. According to Hickey, The UT System could grant permission to proceed by mid-September. The university needs at least a $10 million budget to operate a football program as well as the other 16 sports in its current conference, the Southland Conference. But that's approximately half as much as the budgets of Conference USA, a next level conference of metropolitan area universities of similar size and academic stature as UTSA. The Western Division of Conference USA includes Houston, Rice, UTEP, SMU, Tulsa and Tulane-all geographically convenient for UTSA teams and fans. Out of the 12 universities currently in Conference USA, the University of Southern Mississippi has an enrollment under 15,000, half the size of UTSA, and ranks last in total annual operations budget at $15 million. Ten of the Conference USA schools have operating budgets greater than $20 million. The University of Central Florida ranks first with an annual budget of $30 million. Football Coach According to a football timeline released by the university a year ago, UTSA is to hire a head coach by February 2009. Brad Parrott, associate athletic director for external affairs, said waiting until then will allow UTSA to evaluate all interested coaches after the 2008 college and professional football seasons. After all the football seasons are completed in January 2009, coaches can visit UTSA without violating contracts that last through the current seasons. The university may consider hiring a coach coming out of retirement. "We are getting lots of calls. There are many candidates who are very interested in the position," Parrott said. "They see the potential UTSA has." Basketball improvements In order to move into an elite conference such as Conference USA, UTSA must become a financial asset to the conference. Every team that a conference sends to the NCAA basketball tournament in March receives a lump sum of money, which is determined by that team's point of elimination. The funds are then distributed evenly among the other universities in the conference. Men's basketball head coach Brooks Thompson and his staff will bring in ten newcomers as well as two new coaches to Thompson's coaching staff. UTSA basketball is highlighted on ESPN.com as a team "overdue for a run of good luck." So, unless the basketball team turns itself into a potential contender to make the tournament every year, Conference USA, the Western Athletic Conference and other Division 1A conferences will be looking elsewhere for a school that can become an asset. Facility upgrades A master plan has been developed for a new UTSA athletic complex to be built on land UTSA recently acquired between Hausman Road and Loop 1604 near Kyle Seale Parkway. The 125 acres will be the home for new baseball and softball stadiums, tennis courts, a football practice facility and initially a combination of a soccer and track stadium. Space has been allocated to eventually hold a stand-alone soccer stadium and football stadium, as well as a new Convocation Center. Construction of the first phase of the Competitive Athletic Complex will begin as soon as the university is able to demonstrate just exactly how the $22.05 million in City and County funds will be invested. University officials are currently working with the City and County on contracts to determine when funds will be available. While a new Convocation Center is being considered, the athletic department is set to unveil its new redesigned basketball court in the current Convocation Center. The new court will don the new Roadrunner logo. Other upgrades being considered are a new scoreboard and electronic message boards. What's next University and athletic department officials recently visited the University of Central Florida (UCF) and the University of South Florida (USF) to look at athletic facilities, discuss fundraising initiatives and help determine what must be accomplished to be considered for a Division 1A conference. UCF and USF both jumped to Division 1A football during the past 10 years. The first phase of the athletic fee will be in place this semester. While students may not notice the fee increase in their tuition (one dollar per hour for the first 12 hours of each semester), they will see the effort and progress being made by UTSA Athletics throughout campus. The athletic department knows what students really want-big-time college football. The clock is ticking and the athletic department is just as eager as the students to get there. |
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I guess it makes sense if you say: Current $8 million + $15 million generated by new athl fees = $23 million, which is in the ballpark of what they'd need to operate in C-USA. I just want to make sure I'm not missing something. |
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This may boost the UTSA Athletic Park construction:
http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sa...2/daily25.html The city is guaranteed to host several finalists games (soccer, swimming, volleyball) over the next few years. They will not attract as many guests as basketball, but will still feed the economy. The huge influx of hotels and retail to the area make the UTSA Athletics Park a desirable destination. It also may encourage businesses to look into purchasing naming rights with all of the attention the athletics park would be receiving. |
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