New $1.8 Million Student Bookstore Opens in July

A grand opening for the $1.8 million Student Bookstore is expected in time for book sales this fall, while rapidly advancing construction on UTB/TSC's new $22.5 million Life and Health Sciences Building promises more grand openings soon to come.

Those two major projects are only the first wave of a campus building boom that is expected to transform the campus by the year 2001.

Construction on the new bookstore is about 80 percent complete, reports Dr. Wayne Moore, vice president for administration and planning. With an expected completion date of July 2000, students should be able to shop the fall book sales by August, he said.

The new 15,000-square-foot project, which more than triples existing bookstore space, will generously accommodate reading, browsing and even dining in a caf‚ overlooking the nearby resaca.  Described as a "signature bookstore" for the Rio Grande Valley, it will fill a community-wide need.

Texas Book Company, which is financing the project on land leased from TSC, says the project is the first of its kind.

"It is really exciting for us," says Stacy Dyer, director of marketing for Texas Book Company. "We've been here on campus for 10 years and it has really grown. This is the third location that we call temporary, and none of them have been big enough to suit the needs of the students. This new one is really going to do the trick."

The bookstore will be located on the east side of the campus, adjacent to the Marion Headrick Smith Amphitheater, and also conveniently located next to the planned new Student Union.

A textbook department ample enough for projected enrollment far into the future, a reading area, a copy center, a convenience store, a coffee house, a "cyber caf‚" and a conference and meeting room are included in the design.

Its architecture blends with that of historic Fort Brown, while also reflecting Spanish Colonial influences.

"It's going to be fabulous," says Stacy Dyer. "A full line of clothing, supplies, gifts, trade books - a real book store!"

The new Life and Health Sciences Building, which will anchor campus growth to the south and east, is about 25 percent complete. Most of the foundation has been poured, and the steel structure of the biology wing is already rising.

This much-anticipated project allows for expected increases in the university's top-ranked nursing programs. The nursing school is preparing to add a master's degree program in conjunction with the University of Texas-San Antonio.  The new building also will further expansion of the university's popular programs in biology, and respond to a demand for more science teachers.

"This project is scheduled for completion in September 2001," said Dr. Moore. "Construction is progressing on schedule and within budget."

Other campus construction projects also are coming along:

• The TSC board is expected to award bids in June for construction of a new Technical Training Center. Construction of this 40,000-square foot state-of-the-art complex, which will allow the college to respond rapidly to the occupational and technical training needs of area business and industry, is expected to take from 12 to 15 months.
• Design work is complete on a planned public health component for South Texas' new Regional Academic Health Center. The design has been reviewed by the TSC Board of Trustees, as well as the Facilities Planning Committee of the University of Texas System Board of Regents.  Regents will vote on the project at their next meeting, after which bids will be taken. This project is scheduled for completion in September 2001.
• A new 360-space parking lot off East Jackson is open and ready for use. Lighted and fenced, the lot is connected to the Science and Engineering Technology Building by a paved walkway. Another 65-space lot on Jackson should be open in time for the fall semester.