BLINN BOARD REVIEWS BRENHAM CAMPUS PLAN,APPROVES KRUSE RECREATION CENTER CONSTRUCTION

  

The Blinn College Board of Trustees reviewed its Brenham campus master plan on Monday evening and approved the construction of a new recreation facility that has been part of the campus plan for more than a decade. Only Trustee Richard Powell presented the only dissenting vote

The board reviewed and discussed its Brenham campus plan, which includes the development of additional student housing to fuel future enrollment growth and the development of additional student recreation and activity spaces. Blinn’s Brenham campus currently provides on-campus housing for 1,325 of the campus’ 2,421 students, more than any other community college in the state.

To help accommodate the growth across the College district, Blinn recently updated its Bryan campus master plan prior to a $10 million renovation for the current campus on Villa Maria Road and the purchase of 95 acres for the development of a new campus at the intersection of Leonard Road and F.M. 2818 in Bryan. Scheduled to open in Fall 2017, the new campus will ultimately serve as many as 15,000 students.

Following its master plan discussion, the board approved construction of the Kruse Recreation Center, a 36,000-square-foot student recreation and activities facility that will include space for general fitness, dance and yoga, kinesiology classes, student organization meetings, weightlifting and fitness space and multi-purpose rooms for community events and meetings. In addition, the Center will feature a gymnasium to host Buccaneer volleyball and basketball games as well as high school playoff games and will host summer camps to increase campus activity in the summer months.

The need for a student recreation center has been consistently cited as a primary need in student polling.

The center, which is expected to break ground in Spring 2016 and be operational by Fall 2017, is made possible through a generous gift from the Kruse family. Siblings Mildred Kruse Bridges, Evelyn Ann Kruse, the late Ed. Kruse and his wife Evelyn, and Howard Kruse and his wife Verlin established the gift in memory of their parents, E.F. and Bertha Kruse.

Blinn College and the Blinn Foundation will partner to fund the $11.4 million cost of the project. Blinn has committed $5.5 million and the Blinn Foundation will raise the remaining costs.

At its August meeting, the board authorized a request for qualifications for additional student housing on the Brenham campus, and the board sees the Kruse Center as a strong recruiting tool to complement additional housing and increase campus enrollment.

“The Kruse Center will provide Blinn with a tremendous advantage in recruiting and retaining students on our Brenham campus,” said David Sommer, board president. “Facilities like the Kruse Center allow Blinn to attract motivated, high-energy students not only with our outstanding academic reputation, but with a vibrant, active residential community. We are excited for the Kruse Center to become a dynamic location where students can learn and grow outside the classroom.”

Sommer added this:

According to a 2014 National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association report, 68 percent of students report that campus recreation facilities influenced their decision regarding which college or university to attend and 74 percent reported that campus recreation facilities influenced their decision to continue attending their chosen college or university.

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8 Comments

  1. Well, what does everyone expect? Every time there is a VP position open, it is filled by someone who has no loyalty to Blinn or to the Brenham community because they are from out of town, just here long enough to get some experience and move on. The Board needs to fix some of the practices the last president put into place and move some of his administrative cronies out. You only have to look back as far as when Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Voelter, and Mr. Schwartz were at Blinn.

    Maybe if they hired a VP who was from Brenham and had plans to spend the rest of their life in Brenham because this is where their family is and will be maybe things would be different. But we will see when the new VPI is hired where he or she is from. Maybe he or she will be from Austin?

    1. Freda M. Rings, you are absolutely correct. That is also why Mr. Onion Schwartz was such a great mayor. It is time to elimiate the hiring of any decision making positions by these cronies that just want the money or status quo or the position as another rung in the ladder. The hiring authorities just need to look at their applications and see if they have actually held a job at the same place for more than ten years, If they cannot look at a resume that close, then they need to be looking for a job themself.

  2. I think more on campus or near campus student housing should be a very near future priority. I feel sorry for some of these kids looking for places to live. Most rental property prices are through the roof, do not allow Blinn students, or are too far for those without transportation to walk.

  3. No place to hang out? The current student center has snack bar, TV, recreation rooms etc. What else do they need? School’s main function is to educate, not entertain. A great deal of the students are there with federal dollars. Students who have no personal investment have nothing to lose. Former student is right on, and a few weeks ago, two students on campus threatened to shoot up the campus. They were removed by local authorities and then allowed to return. This incident is common knowledge on campus and easily verifable. Who wants their serious student attending a campus that allows this? Yes, there are some serious, well behaved students, but fewer each semester. Especially since degree requirements have been lowered. Uncomfortable changes need to be made.

    1. True, there is a current student center, but it obviously must close early because the students are looking for things to do. I agree, the the School’s main function is to educate and not entertain, but the students do need a break every now and again and hanging out in the library till it closes is not the option. I also agree that many of the students are there on the govt. dime and could care less about learning. I also know that there are some there on the govt. dime that care a lot about learning and the community. Perhaps Blinn should try figuring out which students are high risk and have them do some kind of community service that can be tied into their degree. When I was that age, college was the furthest from my mind-that is why I am trying to go back at the ripe old age of 47!! We can’t make it a prison where all they do is go to class and go back to their rooms. There needs to be activities also. Perhaps if Blinn offered more computer classes at the Brenham campus instead of everything being offered at the Bryan campus, more older adults would attend!

  4. The facility looks like it will be amazing. With that said, I hope it doesn’t become overrun with thugs like the majority of the campus. I live close to Blinn and my neighborhood is becoming a haven for drug users, thieves, and polluters (only when Blinn is in session). It’s amazing how campus life has changed since I attended Blinn just over a decade ago. Maybe Blinn should think about raising the admittance standards to cut down on the number of crimes committed by Blinn students.

  5. This recreational center is long over due!! Many of the students hang out in the library in the evenings because there is no where else to go to socialize, hopefully they will keep the center open till at least 10pm so it will give them something to so. I am looking forward to the new facility and all the opportunities that it will bring for the students.

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