UNT: Projects & Development

[CTroyMathis]

Denton.

A recent little article here:
http://www.ntdaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/06/11/3ee8a96110a8b

Dorm construction to begin soon

Bronwen Reichle
Staff Writer
June 11, 2003

After much debate between NT administration and Eagle Point residents, construction on the Eagle Point Golf Course will begin later this month.
According to Richard Escalante, vice chancellor for administrative affairs, the first phase of construction will include a dorm and dining facilities.

NT acquired the lease on the golf course from the Radisson Hotel last fall with the intention of building a dorm and athletics center to accommodate the increasing number of students requesting on-campus housing.

Though the new dorm will be open to all NT students, NT architect A. Peter Giglio says that it "will be designed specifically with student athletes in mind."

Victory Hall's 600 beds will be larger than those in the existing dorms and the rooms will be double occupancy.

"It was our intent in working with the architect to make both inside and outside a very inviting environment for the students," Escalante said.

"Within the lobby area there are alot of opportunities for people to study and interact."

NT also hopes to construct an athletics facility on the property when funds become available.

Further construction will likely include rebuilding the North Texas Avenue bridge to make the property more accessible.

Escalante said funding for this project will be provided either by the Texas Department of Transportation or a federal grant and will not begin in the immediate future.

__________________________________________________


Some interesting master plans for the campus from here:
http://www.unt.edu/masterplan/

Large images:

http://www.unt.edu/masterplan/images/2.1_summary.jpg

http://www.unt.edu/masterplan/images/7.4_green.jpg

http://www.unt.edu/masterplan/images/7.5_sketches.jpg

http://www.unt.edu/masterplan/images/6.2_housexp.jpg

http://www.unt.edu/masterplan/images/4.6_potbldgs.jpg

http://www.unt.edu/masterplan/images/8.2_acquire.jpg


This one is what I like to see...for the whole of DFW:

http://www.unt.edu/masterplan/images/3.3_cover.jpg


__________________________________________________

New Student Recreation Center(opens in the Fall) here:
http://www.unt.edu/reccenter/

http://www.unt.edu/reccenter/images/render.jpg

North Texas Athletic Center + Athletic Village coming down the pipeline here:
http://www.unt.edu/mgathletics/GOG/facilities/default.htm

http://www.unt.edu/mgathletics/GOG/facilities/Images/AthleticVillageDrawing3.jpg
http://www.unt.edu/mgathletics/GOG/facilities/Images/AthleticVillageDrawing2.jpg
http://www.unt.edu/mgathletics/GOG/facilities/Images/FoutsFielddrawing.jpg
http://www.unt.edu/mgathletics/GOG/facilities/Images/AthleticVillageDrawing1.jpg

__________________________________________________

Other related articles:

Constructing a modern campus
http://www.ntdaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/04/16/3e9cdf09aaa78?in_archive=1

The Future of our University
http://www.ntdaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/04/03/3e8bda081ba16?in_archive=1

[Gen5Dallas]

Post moved.

[CTroyMathis]

Above post moved to here:
http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=982

It just fits better in that thread... ;)

- Troy.

[CTroyMathis]

http://media.ntdaily.com/vimages/shared/vnews/stories/3f1ff9a09e2e5-91-1.jpg

^ Some 'Sorority Row' stuff in this article:
http://www.ntdaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/07/24/3f1ff9a09e2e5

[CTroyMathis]

Some of those links up there are no good now.

Updated link to the Athletic Village and Athletic Center, etc.:
http://www.meangreensports.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=9503&SPID=581&DB_OEM_ID=1800&ATCLID=67236

http://cache.nmn.speedera.net/pics17/0/ID/IDROLBKVLYXTNLY.20040723143143.jpg
http://cache.nmn.speedera.net/pics17/0/TM/TMQKJOMFVUQMFYH.20040723143303.jpg
http://cache.nmn.speedera.net/pics18/0/IU/IUFOULYFROEMDFM.20040723143359.jpg




Past September photos of other construction:
http://www.meangreensports.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?SPSID=9503&SPID=581&DB_OEM_ID=1800&DB_OEM_ID=1800&PALBID=821

http://www.meangreensports.com//pics23/800/HV/HVKSNGFOQXPNORC.20040924141258.jpg
http://www.meangreensports.com//pics26/800/BN/BNHDNDAWFVNYCRF.20040924140145.jpg
http://www.meangreensports.com//pics27/800/PD/PDEKGAKMHEUSAYD.20040924140102.jpg

[texman]

Um, nice postcard styling. 'North Texas'

[CTroyMathis]

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/localnews/stories/DRC_UNT_plans_would.26d76315d.html

UNT plan would close Avenue C
Regents to view latest version of the master plan today; meeting is public
07:24 AM CDT on Friday, May 13, 2005
By Matthew Zabel / Staff Writer

The University of North Texas plans to close Avenue C and limit traffic on Highland
Street in order to make a more pedestrian-friendly campus, according to the latest
draft of the university’s master plan.

The UNT Board of Regents will view a presentation about that plan at its regular
quarterly meeting today in the UNT Gateway Center’s third-floor boardroom. The
meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. and is open to the public.

The board is not scheduled to vote on adopting the master plan. UNT officials plan
more revisions to the plan and hope to present the final version for the board’s
approval in August.

Greg Havens, the planner working with UNT to develop the master plans for the
Denton and Dallas campuses, showed drafts of those plans to the board’s facilities
committee Thursday.

Havens said both plans would include access for emergency and service vehicles,
but the plan is to keep the main traffic and parking on the campus’s perimeter.

“Our goal is to maintain a 10-minute walking circle in the core of campus,” said
Havens, a consultant with Boston-based Sasaki Associates Inc. That means most
of the academic buildings would be located within a 10-minute walk of other
academic buildings.

To do that, the university would need to build more buildings in the interior of the
campus, Havens said.

Havens said planners are designing a campus for a capacity of 41,000 students,
which would require 2,100 more dorm beds and about 3,000 more parking spaces.
UNT now has 31,000 students.

The Denton master plan showed three new parking garages on the main campus.

The plans also showed development on UNT’s Eagle Point campus, the former golf
course on the south side of Interstate 35E that the university began developing
in 2003.

In addition to a football stadium and other athletic facilities there, UNT plans to
build another residence hall on that area of campus and has plans for possible
business development along Interstate 35E west of the Radisson Hotel and
onference Center.

A pedestrian bridge across Interstate 35E would help link the two parts of the
campus split by the highway, Havens said.

UNT Athletic Director Rick Villarreal expressed some concern about the amount of
parking around the football stadium, and that some of those parking lots are
shared with the residence halls.

UNT has had some problems on game days, because officials have had to ask
students who live in residence halls near Fouts Field to move their cars so fans
could park there, Villarreal said.

Havens said the pedestrian bridge would link football fans to about 2,000 more
parking spaces that could be used on game day.

The plans also show several park-like areas, and the use of trees to better define
the campus edges

The planners also showed plans for a new Dallas campus for up to 25,000
students at Camp Wisdom and Houston School roads.

[CTroyMathis]

http://www.ntdaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/04/29/4271d9b0c3aca

Dorm could eliminate parking lots
SGA opposes recommendation, writes letter of protest to President Pohl
CHRISTINE STANLEY
Managing Editor
April 29, 2005

Last Friday, NT's Capitol Planning Committee voted to recommend that two new
housing facilities be built on the existing residence hall parking lots behind Clark
and Maple Halls. The recommendation will displace 566 existing parking spaces
and has the potential to change the way parking stickers are sold in the near
future if approved by three more levels of administrative hierarchy.

The Committee wants to have the new dorms open by Spring 2007 Construction
could begin during the fall 2006 semester...

More at link.

[CTroyMathis]

UNT athletics gaining grounds
08:40 AM CDT on Saturday, August 27, 2005
By Brett Vito / Staff Writer
http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/localnews/stories/DRC_UNT_athletics.b484275a.html

A few years ago, Eagle Point was a place where a quiet round of golf represented just about the only athletic activity on a patch of land bordering the University of North Texas campus.

That tranquility has been lost in a rumble of bulldozers that clear the way for the largest round of athletic expansion in UNT history.

The course of action is one that UNT officials plan on continuing with the construction of a football stadium within the next five years, a goal they believe is attainable.

UNT is building soccer and softball fields and recently presented a facility plan to its Board of Regents that includes a 32,000-seat football stadium that would cost $40 million to $45 million.

“The basis for our plan shows we are committed to athletics,” UNT President Norval Pohl said.

The presentation comes at the end of a whirlwind four years for UNT’s sports program under Athletic Director Rick Villarreal. UNT arranged to build several facilities in that time and also had an extended courtship with Conference USA, which eventually left the school out of its expansion plans.

The experiences helped shape the new goals of the athletic department, which feels secure in its ability to find financing for a stadium because of what it’s accomplished since Villarreal’s arrival.

UNT opened its $7.4 million athletic center this year and purchased Denton Liberty Christian School’s campus, where new soccer and softball fields are being built. Construction has also begun on the Ronald C. Waranch Tennis Pavilion, the new home for the UNT tennis program, and a new artificial surface at Fouts Field, which will be ready for this season.

UNT had only three on-campus athletic facilities when Villarreal was hired in 2001. Fouts Field was built in 1952, and the North Texas Coliseum, also known as the Super Pit, was built in 1973. The school’s old office complex, which housed administration officials and football coaches, was built in 1976.

Villarreal has no plans of slowing down, despite the fact UNT has quickly exceeded what was accomplished in the last 30 years.

“We have to start all over again,” he said. “We had a five-year plan, a 10-year plan and a vision when I came to UNT. That is all gone now. We have to step it up because we accomplished a lot in four years and people are going to expect the same rate of progress.”

‘One facility at a time’

UNT officials see a football stadium as the next logical step in the expansion of the athletic department, which added softball two years ago and is planning to revive its baseball program by 2007.

“We definitely have a benchmark of success now that we didn’t have as many as five years ago,” said Senior Associate Athletic Director Hank Dickenson, entering his 11th year at UNT. “There are things that people can come and see that show we are able to raise money, whereas before we could only sell dreams. … The plans for a stadium are tangible now.”

The achievements have helped Villarreal gain the support of UNT Board of Regents members C. Dan Smith and Charles Beatty.

“I feel comfortable about the direction we are going,” said Smith, who expressed confidence that UNT would build a stadium in the next few years. “All in all, I am very excited about where we are compared to where we were.”

UNT officials believe building facilities now will ensure several teams will continue to build on their success in recent years. The football team has won the Sun Belt Conference title and played in the New Orleans Bowl in each of the last four years, and the soccer team advanced to the NCAA women’s tournament for the first time in the program’s history last year.

“We are trying to make up for 25-35 years of not only no growth in the athletic program, but no improvements to speak of,” Villarreal said. “We could do it year-by-year by building one facility at a time, but you would have to wonder what would happen in that span while we are trying to catch up.”

Members of the faculty said they are cautiously supportive of the school’s athletic expansion, as long as it is kept in perspective.

“There is some concern about the emphasis in a time of decreasing funding,” said Frances van Tassell, chairwoman of the Faculty Senate. “We need to be careful how we spend our resources.”

The athletic department recently borrowed $2.57 million for the final payment on the Liberty Christian property, to convert its facilities and the turf at Fouts Field. Van Tassell said borrowing money for athletic facilities was a divisive issue among professors.

Grant Miles, a professor in the department of management who frequently attends games, has no problem with athletic department expansion, as long as it does not come at the cost of academics.

“If the athletic department can build a stadium with outside funding, that is OK,” he said. “It seems projects like that are not always done with outside money, though.”

Seeking the funds

Villarreal is counting on efforts to cultivate donors to jump-start a fundraising campaign for a football stadium. Those efforts and the success of some of UNT’s teams helped the school gain a $1 million donation from former Mean Green linebacker Jim McIngvale for its athletic center and another $1 million from alumnus Ronald Waranch for the tennis center.

McIngvale cited the success of the football program under coach Darrell Dickey as one of the reasons he decided to support the school’s athletic program.

“I absolutely think it is possible for North Texas to build a football stadium,” he said. “I am 100 percent behind it as long as Darrell Dickey is there. There is no reason North Texas can’t get it done.”

Villarreal and Pohl point to McIngvale’s enthusiasm as a sign UNT is cultivating relationships that will result in the donations necessary to build a stadium.

“The financial backing is out there for a stadium,” Pohl said. “Our goal is to get it done in five years. That’s a realistic timeframe.”

[CTroyMathis]

The stadium:

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/6499/untdentonstadiumez2.jpg

[NThomas]

Found this over on gomeangreen.com
Bid Listings (http://pps.unt.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=211&Itemid=289)
application (http://esbd.cpa.state.tx.us/docs/752/74071_1.pdf)
due date: 12-12-07

The stadium is no longer just a rumor.


UNT has sent out a Request for Qualifications for architectural firms and will select one early next year that will study the site on which a new stadium would be built. The firm will work with the university to design a facility that would seat 30-35,000 and could be expanded to seat 50,000. That aspect of the project was spelled out in black and white in UNT's request for qualifications.

UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal called selecting a firm an initial step and said it does not mean that the school has a timetable set to build a stadium. He would also not reveal how much money UNT has on hand that will be used for a new stadium.

What it does mean is that UNT has raised enough to hire a firm to design a new facility, an aspect of the project that won't be cheap.

In a few months UNT will have a design for a new stadium, one that would no doubt be trotted out to show anyone with the ability to donate the money the school will need to complete the project.

Villarreal compared hiring a firm to the early stages of building the Mean Green Athletic Center. Once UNT had turned some dirt and shown that it was serious about the project, money was a lot easier to come by. UNT officials are hoping the initial steps they are taking toward building a stadium will have a similar effect.

UNT received $1.5 million for an early study on what it would take to build a new stadium late last year from Al and Shirley Goldfield. Putting out an ROP appears to be the next step -- one that will end with the school knowing exactly what it wants in a new stadium and having the designs that will eventually be used in construction.


What UNT is doing is taking some important first steps that will hopefully allow Todd Dodge & Rick Villarreal to go to the big donors with actual renderings, not proposed ideas, of what the stadium will look like. Besides donors, prospective players can play at a stadium they can be proud of along with Denton & the rest of the Metroplex. The Bid app goes into detail about a 30k-35k stadium with the option to expand to 50k! That would bring UNT up to scale with other D-1 schools like K-State, Iowa , Kansas, OSU, Texas Tech & Oregon. Sure it's no Jerry World, but hopefully with a new program on this scale that 50k might be needed sooner then later. The only problem is bringing back alumni & recruiting new fans. If the big dogs are receptive, North Texas finally get in the game.

[Mballar]

Where did that river/creek come from in the rendering?

[dfwcre8tive]

^ This is going across I35E from their current stadium, on the former golf course next to the Radisson Hotel (which has several ponds). The whole golf course property is being redeveloped into student housing and an athletic complex.

[Mballar]

Did they move the golf course, or get rid of it altogether?

[tamtagon]

[I wonder if Texas Pickup still sells Ultimate Nachos...]

Here's hoping this is a beginnings of another nationally recognized College Football Team. Will UNT ever shake off the commuter-school blahs?

[dfwcre8tive]

Did they move the golf course, or get rid of it altogether?

The golf course had been losing money for several years and needed a lot of maintenance upgrades, so instead of buying out and relocating Denton residents south of the campus UNT decided to use the golf course property they already own to construct new student housing complexes and athletic center. Already open is a new residence hall, athletic center, and tennis center.

http://endow.unt.edu/sept2004/images/victory-hall-page-3.gif

[Mballar]

Thanks for the updates. I haven't been up there in a long time. Looks like a lot of changes are taking place for the better at my old Alma Mata. I guess I need to update my contact info. on the alumni web page so they can hit me up for some money to pay for all of this. :)

[NThomas]

[I wonder if Texas Pickup still sells Ultimate Nachos...]

Here's hoping this is a beginnings of another nationally recognized College Football Team. Will UNT ever shake off the commuter-school blahs?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...but Texas Pickup burned down years ago...i had the high score for Ms. Pac-Man too. As shaking off the commuter-school image, people who still haven't seen whats happened in the last decade. When this staduim is finally built, and the Mean Green Athletic Village is completed, people will hopefully have a very different image then they did 20 years ago.

The idea from the athletic department was to replace the Eagle Point Golf Course with an Athletic Village reminiscent of an "Olympic village." Along with the old Liberty Christian School campus, UNT also has build a Tennis complex, athletic center (housing the departments offices and football locker room) and one of two dorms with a dining hall. From the current 2005 UNT Master Plan. I think before the new branding campaign the name was changed, along with our moniker, from "Eagle Point" to the "Mean Green Village."

North Texas Boulevard Gateway
Over the long term, the reconstruction of the I-35 bridge at North Texas Boulevard will provide the opportunity to create a new gateway into the campus. Preliminary
bridge and roadway design suggest that the existing businesses on the east side of North Texas Boulevard will need to be removed. The University should
acquire these properties for the purposes of providing a Visitor Center and landscape improvements along both the east and west sides of North Texas Boulevard. The master plan illustrates how this area could be reconfigured to accommodate a Visitor Center and gateway landscape. The proposed
landscape improvements extend from I-35 north to the Gateway Center and west to include the area surrounding the Murchison Center. Specific recommendations
include the addition of new trees, signature gates, walls and hedges that would serve to transform this area into a memorable arrival point to the campus.

Fouts Field
The master plan provides a long-term strategy for redeveloping the Fouts Field area after the existing stadium has been relocated to the Eagle Point Campus. The idea is to set out a framework of streets and open space structure that will accommodate
parking in the initial phases and future building development over the long-term. The street frame extends Highland Street westward to provide a direct link for transit into the site. Other roads include
north / south streets and a potential link to West Prairie. The plan for the area includes a central open space which will serve as a transit hub, housing sites to the north of the Highland Street extension, a new parking garage along North Texas Boulevard and a site for a potential opera house. The parking garage is intended to serve the southwest campus area including
proposed educational facilities along the Highland Transit Mall, event parking in the Coliseum and the future stadium and residents of the housing district. The existing
recreation fields at the west end of the area are maintained in the plan.

The Eagle Point Campus
The Eagle Point campus is envisioned to become the new athletic and recreation district for the campus. The master plan incorporates the recently completed Victory Hall, Athletic Center and football practice fields and illustrates the potential of accommodating a future 35,000-seat football stadium, recreation fields, a tennis complex, track and field facilities, parking and an alignment for the extension of North Texas Boulevard. The plan also identifies a site for a second phase of housing with 400 beds and picnic / student activity pavilions. The Eagle Point Campus has been designed to accommodate the athletic and recreation facilities such that an extensive Greenway is maintained east of the extension of North Texas Boulevard. The proposed roadway allows access to the Denia neighborhood and provides a link to the University facilities on the former Liberty Christian Property. The Greenway incorporates the existing Duck Pond and natural drainage system and is envisioned as a major open space amenity linked to the North Texas Gateway and Gateway Park. It will include jogging trails and will incorporate a bicycle route proposed in the City of Denton bicycle plan. The Eagle Point Campus also provides the opportunity to accommodate future mixed-use development along the I-35 corridor extending from Bonnie Brae to the existing Radisson Hotel site. The future mixed-use development should be completed in conjunction with the stadium to ensure a coordinated approach.

If you can stoumach the whole thing, check out the (warning pdf file) master plan (http://www.unt.edu/untmasterplan/documents/Final_Master_Plan.pdf). Theres alot of cool stuff thats already been done or thats in the works like the new COBA building along with Crescent, Legends and Honors Hall; all based on the recommendations from this master plan.

The first picture is from the former 2002 "Eagle Point" Master Plan and the other two are the current "Mean Green Village" from the 2005 UNT Master Plan along with the preceding quote.

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5783/eaglepointexpansionplanmf9.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=eaglepointexpansionplanmf9.jpg) http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3218/northtexasboulevardgateat2.th.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=northtexasboulevardgateat2.jpg) http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/7197/eaglepointcampusmeangreau3.th.jpg (http://img146.imageshack.us/my.php?image=eaglepointcampusmeangreau3.jpg)

[dendalmatt07]

im a little confused. so that master plan is for the existing area of unt and not where the athletic complex is now? it says the murchison and traditions hall are there and that's deffinately the opposite side of the highway from mean green village.

[tamtagon]

Sweet! In the world of park-decks over highways, this is as promising an opportunity as any. When I-35 get rebuilt, it needs to disappear between Murchison Center and the Radison-whatever-it's called hotel.

[NThomas]

im a little confused. so that master plan is for the existing area of unt and not where the athletic complex is now? it says the murchison and traditions hall are there and that's deffinately the opposite side of the highway from mean green village.

The 2005 master plan (pdf) encompasses all of the main campus (which now includes the old eagle point golf course). There are more pages showing other improvements to the rest of the campus


Sweet! In the world of park-decks over highways, this is as promising an opportunity as any. When I-35 get rebuilt, it needs to disappear between Murchison Center and the Radison-whatever-it's called hotel.

Yeah it's the Raddison (formerly Sheraton) & as far as i can tell this (pdf) (http://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/NR/rdonlyres/8980D7FC-3280-41D0-9C01-74A2712031C9/709/Mainlanes2of3.pdf) (a Design Schematic) shows North Texas Blvd & Bonnie Brae St both as underpasses. Hopefully this will make it on to final design. Plus I remember hearing with the Murchison PAC, noise is a BIG factor for the project and final traffic noise. Rumor has it that there will be mutilpe sound barriers (trees & landscaping) between 35E & the Murchison.

[RuggerAl]

the skinny i heard was UNT- denton was making a push for more residential campus. thus the residential hall building boom. But once it is all done it should be pretty cool. I heard also they will be looking at to redo the Union possibly. The old Fouts field will be open grass land for future expansion and there is supposed to be a new feature building built on the recovered land where the old Sig Ep house used to be. I wished UNT could get a unified them in their buildings maybe or something. All in all good things at UNT.

[dfwcre8tive]

Friday, February 8, 2008
UNT picks HKS Inc. for new stadium
Dallas Business Journal
http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2008/02/04/daily40.html?surround=lfn

The University of North Texas' Board of Regents has selected HKS Inc. for the architecture and design of its new football stadium.

The new stadium will seat a minimum of 30,000 -- a number which could be expanded to 50,000, according to published reports. It will replace Fouts Field, across from the Mean Green Athletic Center.

HKS has offices in Dallas.

[cowboyeagle05]

Good progress, and glad UNT is getting their own upgrades along. Has UNT ever played at the Cotton Bowl?

[NThomas]

I found this at gomeangreen.com (http://www.gomeangreen.com)

http://incipientstage.20megsfree.com/images/img_1837.jpg

While this IS NOT the final design, it is one of many floating around since talk of replacing Fouts Field started.

[dfwcre8tive]

looks kind of ... generic.

[cowboyeagle05]

looks kind of ... generic.
Considering the fact that the above rendering is just a concept rather than a finished rendering it would most likely not have details that would help make it unique besides the obvious design elements that would change when they figure out what they like and don't like about the concept design. Character would be added in later more detailed revisions.

[NThomas]

09:16 PM CDT on Monday, May 5, 2008

HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News
hhacker@dallasnews.com

Once again, it looks as though Dallas County will have to wait a little longer for its own first public four-year university. University of North Texas officials are recommending that their Dallas campus not become a free-standing institution, independent of the main Denton campus, until fall 2010. UNT's board of regents is expected to approve the delay when it meets Thursday. It would be the second delay in three years. The first time around, UNT officials pushed the opening date back from 2007 to 2009 because fewer students than expected enrolled. Now, officials say they want an extra year just to get everything in order, including the hiring of more professors and addition of more degree programs.

"We simply need time to get all of the things done that have to be done," said John Ellis Price, UNT Dallas' vice provost.

The Dallas campus opened its first permanent building last year in southeast Oak Cliff. Current enrollment stands at 766 full-time students. The campus needs to hit the 1,000 mark to become independent and offer its own degrees. School leaders say they expect to hit that enrollment target this fall. Still, some higher-education experts question the push for new colleges that are smaller than many secondary schools.

"Building a new campus ought to be a last resort rather than a first resort because it's so expensive," said Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a nonprofit group in California.

Running that new campus isn't cheap, either, especially when it's tiny. Think economies of scale: No matter the size, every college needs a president, an admissions office, a registrar, a bookstore and a health clinic. Administrative costs alone run nearly twice as high at smaller campuses, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: $2,600 per student at small campuses vs. $1,400 for larger ones. The Coordinating Board recommends that campuses enroll 3,500 full-time students for four years before they become independent. But the Legislature has the final say, and State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, has successfully pushed to lower the threshold for UNT Dallas twice. Other lawmakers have successfully backed the same enrollment breaks for Texas A&M satellite campuses in San Antonio and Killeen. Meanwhile, the Coordinating Board plans to review its rules for new campuses this year.

"If the Legislature doesn't like the policy, it would be much better to tell the Coordinating Board to review it," Mr. Callan said. "But just to make exceptions based on local political interest – at the end of the day you're not going to have a very cost-effective higher education system."

Many Dallas civic leaders and lawmakers have supported UNT's efforts to open a campus in Dallas – especially in an area with many minority residents and low college enrollment rates. UNT Dallas has taken several steps to boost enrollment. While students at the Denton campus will pay more tuition next year, Dallas campus students won't – officials figured the stable price would help it grow. The school is also offering scholarships of up to $2,500 to eligible students who take a full load of daytime classes. Most students take classes on evenings and weekends.

"I think they're showing great wisdom in realizing you can't just open a campus overnight," said David Gardner, a deputy commissioner at the Coordinating Board. "They want to do it the right way, obviously."

UNT Chancellor Lee Jackson said the Dallas campus is in a good situation, with enrollment rising each year. A state plan called "Closing the Gaps" calls for enrolling an extra 630,000 college students, including more minorities, by 2015.

"We are really helping the state of Texas close the gaps," he said, "and that's more important than the year we run the flag up the flagpole."

[aygriffith]

I noticed when driving from Oklahoma a few days ago that the Raddison is no longer a Raddison. Word from aquaintances of mine that are hospitality professionals is that there are forces at work that are looking to demo the Raddison and bring John Q Hammonds in with another one of his Embassy Suites properties. This all being part of the total redevelopment of that land.

[Maverick]

The future UNT Dallas was a political creation, and not based on any rational assessment.

Texas already has too many universities, and creating more tiny ones just spreads resources that much thinner.

Of course the UNT System was a willing sponsor of this arrangement, as they want to be and stay a "system."

[aygriffith]

The future UNT Dallas was a political creation, and not based on any rational assessment.

Texas already has too many universities, and creating more tiny ones just spreads resources that much thinner.

Of course the UNT System was a willing sponsor of this arrangement, as they want to be and stay a "system."

I was more interested in their potential new Law School. Dallas is one of the only major cities in the US with out a public law school for people to attend. But the pro UT people in the legislature kept that from happening.

[Quiz03]

I was more interested in their potential new Law School. Dallas is one of the only major cities in the US with out a public law school for people to attend. But the pro UT people in the legislature kept that from happening.


Texas needs to better fund the public law schools it has already before funding anymore. Any new law school associated with UNT is destined to be fourth tier. Texas has too many bottom tier law schools as is, why should the State add to that problem (besides the benefit to have more professional school students in downtown). How many more unemployed, and underemployed lawyers are needed?

[NThomas]

Students will help decide the fate of a new UNT stadium
September 6, 2008
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By Troy Phillips
Full Article (http://www.star-telegram.com/college_sports/story/888698.html)


The low-water standard in college football’s highest division has suspect plumbing, no guest suites, an antiquated electrical system that requires 19 generators on gamedays, outdated locker rooms and no meeting space.

It’s no looker, either.

It’s Fouts Field, the creaking, 56-year-old home of football at the University of North Texas. The future of that program may well depend on whether Fouts lives or dies.

http://media.star-telegram.com/smedia/2008/09/05/23/70-unt_09-06-2008_Tarrant_IMOS67V.embedded.prod_affiliate.58.jp g

For the program to survive in Division I, a new stadium must be built at UNT, and its students have a say in the process that could chart the school’s athletic course.

In the next 10 days, UNT’s student senate will vote on a proposed student referendum, that, if passed in October, would impose a new student athletic fee to help fund a planned $60 million stadium. If built, plans have the stadium seating 32,000-35,000, with 24 luxury suites.

If two-thirds of the senate approves a referendum, one of several fee models will go to the student body. If it passes, the UNT Board of Regents, and eventually the state Legislature, must approve the fee.

If the referendum fails, UNT will suffer a setback in attempts to raise the first $30 million (actual or pledged) before breaking ground, a direct edict from school president Gretchen M. Bataille.

"If you look across the country at great universities, they have great athletics programs, arts programs and academics," Bataille said. "All of those things have to be in place to be the university we want UNT to be."

Bataille, a new-stadium proponent, calls it the last piece of an unfinished puzzle that inhibits UNT athletically. That UNT could impose an athletic fee on students without a referendum isn’t lost on her.

"The students need to feel engaged and part of what’s going on," she said...
More at link (http://www.star-telegram.com/college_sports/story/888698.html)

[aygriffith]

I think the stadium will be a great boost to the football program at UNT. There seems to be quite a few alumnus of UNT in the DFW area and any boost of the UNT name either through academics or sports always is good for anyone with a degree from the school.

And if they build the stadium they might finally be able to get into Conference USA and out of Sunbelt. Maybe then they could start attracting better prospects.

[CTroyMathis]

UNT students to vote on new fee to fund new football stadium
11:22 AM CDT on Thursday, September 25, 2008
By BRETT VITO / Denton Record-Chronicle
bvito@dentonrc.com
Visit: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/denton/stories/092508dnmetuntstadium.aee78826.html
Reminder of conceptual: http://www.gomeangreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/a003236k_stadium-flyer-08.pdf

North Texas came one step closer to a building a new football stadium on Wednesday when the school’s student senate approved a referendum for a student fee that will appear on the fall election ballot.

The fee of $10 per semester credit hour will now go to a vote of the students on Oct. 13-17. That comes out to $300 a year for students taking 15 hours of courses a semester.

More after the jump. . .

[Double Wide]

has a final design been decided upon?

[NThomas]

has a final design been decided upon?
Not yet. There were some newer renderings shown before the election.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/UNTstadium.jpg

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v300/188/22/1538490023/n1538490023_30332953_4800.jpg
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30332943&id=1538490023&op=2&view=all&subj=26119370759&aid=-1&oid=26119370759
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30332943&id=1538490023&op=2&view=all&subj=26119370759&aid=-1&oid=26119370759
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v300/188/22/1538490023/n1538490023_30332943_1990.jpg
http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v300/188/22/1538490023/n1538490023_30332941_8850.jpg
The board of regents will meet to approve the new athletic fee then, in January, the fee goes to the state legislature for approval. This will be a rubber stamp procedure. Finally, construction will begin with a groundbreaking sometime in late spring or early summer 2009.

[grantboston]

Wow. Aside from the Detroit Lions, I've never seen a winless team with so nice a place to call home.

[cowboyeagle05]

Wow. Aside from the Detroit Lions, I've never seen a winless team with so nice a place to call home.

grantboston you know better than any one that's how you encourage better athleticism in education by shifting more money towards improvements like new stadiums, locker rooms, and other fun stuff.

Athletics do better when they have all the money and the Arts programs do better when they have none, starving artists if you will.

In all serious conversation its interesting that they actually voted to have a tax to fund this stadium so I don't have any grief with the project, so good luck on their new stadium.

[NThomas]

Too bad UNT didn't reach out for help with the stadium. Sure its getting built, but imagine if the City of Denton, Denton County or Denton ISD would have been included. The money they put into Denton ISD's new stadium could have helped to have built a bigger UNT stadium or it could have been started sooner. Now Denton will have 2 stadiums. With only a handful of events to go around, I see alot of events (other then high school games ex: playoffs) moving into the new UNT stadium.

[eirin]

I don't know about it getting built. I'm a UNT student (though I am out for a semester) and I have friends who voted no on it. So I'm not sure about it passing. I kind of hope it doesn't. It's a waste of money.

[grantboston]

I've only briefly looked at the new master plan for the Denton Campus, but isn't the stadium moving across I-35 to where the golf course is now? If I remember correctly, there was supposed to be a whole athletic village over there or something. I wonder if UNT will level and build something over Fouts Field once the new place is complete, or if that will have to wait for future funding.

[Maverick]

I've only briefly looked at the new master plan for the Denton Campus, but isn't the stadium moving across I-35 to where the golf course is now? If I remember correctly, there was supposed to be a whole athletic village over there or something. I wonder if UNT will level and build something over Fouts Field once the new place is complete, or if that will have to wait for future funding.

I didn't think there was too much doubt that students would vote for it, because it is a fee that will be imposed on future students once the stadium is completed. Most of the students voting in this election won't have to pay a dime; that certainly makes voting "yes" more palatable.

Also, according to state law, a student fee can pay for no more than half of it. So, the other half, or more, has to come from somewhere else. They are trying to raise gift money for it right now. I doubt they will get $30 million in gift money, but they should be able to get some. They will most likely dig-up the rest of the financing from internal sources, e.g., auxiliary enterprise income (book store profits, dorm profits).

Yes, the stadium will go across I-35 from the campus core on the old golf course. They already have an athletic conditioning center on that side which will sit in an end zone of the future stadium. Additionally, they have constructed student apartments and a dining hall next to the conditioning center. Doubtless, athletes are among the residences, and there are plans to add another housing unit there. The plan calls for the space that Fouts Field presently occupies to be a parking garage.

I think it was a mistake to put all that across I-35. I favor a more dense, walkable campus rather than sprawl. The golf course land could have been sold and used to purchase more land around the campus core. As is, they sapped vitality that could have been added to the campus core. For instance, I'd never put student housing in a relatively isolated area so far and across an interstate highway from the campus core. Takes a shuttle bus to get to class.

[grantboston]

Isn't there some long range plan to build a deck over the park in order to connect the athletic complex/campus to the main campus?

[NThomas]

I don't know about it getting built. I'm a UNT student (though I am out for a semester) and I have friends who voted no on it. So I'm not sure about it passing. I kind of hope it doesn't. It's a waste of money.
It already passed.

Isn't there some long range plan to build a deck over the park in order to connect the athletic complex/campus to the main campus?
There is but it's nothing grand like the Woodall Rogers Deck Park. Just a simple pedestrian bridge like at Texas Stadium.

[aygriffith]

Wow. Aside from the Detroit Lions, I've never seen a winless team with so nice a place to call home.

Make that a 1 win team...

They did seem to have a problem this past week with 15 of their 80ish players failing a drug test. Todd Dodge needs to get his Dodge Ball back up and running. They went from two time Sunbelt Champions 4 years ago to a shell of a team. I would love to see them get out of SBelt and into C USA after this stadium is completed.

[NThomas]

Firm picked to build stadium
February 14, 2009
Denton Record-Chronicle
By Candace Carlisle
Full Article (http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/localnews/stories/drc_regents_0214.13be970a.html)

The University of North Texas Board of Regents voted Friday to hire a Dallas firm to oversee construction of a new UNT football stadium.

The regents, meeting at the Universities Center in Dallas, voted unanimously to hire Manhattan Construction as the stadium project’s construction manager.

“We had several good firms submit proposals, but this is the overall firm that was deemed by the selection committee that was the best value,” said Richard Escalante, vice chancellor for administrative services. “We use the term ‘best value,’ because they have expertise and experience to evaluate designs and save costs. They could save hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The estimated cost of the new stadium has increased over the last few months from $60 million to $78 million after bringing in construction experts to evaluate the project, Escalante said.

“It’s hard to give an estimated cost on a project until you decide what you are going to build,” he said. “We have a general idea, but that doesn’t provide the details. Plans have not been drawn out yet.”

The budget estimate will likely continue to shift as the preliminary plans are fleshed out, and with the volatile construction materials market, it is hard to say what those estimates could look like, Escalante said.

Last October, the student body approved an athletic fee increase of $10 per credit hour, which will be instated when the stadium opens to help finance the project.

A general snapshot of the stadium — a 30,000-seat capacity stadium with lounges, suites and retail facilities — will also progress as details such as the elevation of the field is determined, Escalante said...

[aygriffith]

Now all thats missing is the millions in donations needed to build it... Doesn't Don Henley or Robocop want to donate a few million to have their name on the field?

The home of the Mean Green... Robocop Memorial Field

[NThomas]

Now all thats missing is the millions in donations needed to build it... Doesn't Don Henley or Robocop want to donate a few million to have their name on the field?

The home of the Mean Green... Robocop Memorial Field

This is the same comment I've been hearing for YEARS here in Denton. :2doh: So much that sometimes, I think it's UNT's motto...

[aygriffith]

This is the same comment I've been hearing for YEARS here in Denton. :2doh: So much that sometimes, I think it's UNT's motto...

That they should name the field Robocop Field?

or

That Don Henley hasn't as much as sneazed a penny towards UNT durring his lifetime... from what I understand.