BLINN TRUSTEES AUTHORIZE $1 MILLION IN BRYAN CAMPUS IMPROVEMENTS

  

The Blinn College Board of Trustees authorized administrators to move forward with approximately $1 million in improvements to the College’s Bryan Campus during its regular meeting held Tuesday, Sept. 20.

The board authorized Blinn administrators to award Dudley Construction, Ltd. a contract for improvements to the Blinn-Bryan Campus north entrance. The project will add a right turn exit to the existing entrance, helping to improve the flow of traffic off campus, and includes all related sidewalk construction, landscaping, storm drain, and site lighting required by the City of Bryan.

The project also includes improvements to existing landscapes around the parking lot and will allow for the construction of a short pipe fence to prevent illegal left turns onto Villa Maria Road.

The project is estimated to cost approximately $665,000 and will be funded from 2014 Washington County bond funds.

The board also authorized Blinn administrators to award and execute a contract with Dudley Construction for landscaping improvements on the Bryan campus. The project includes:

• landscaping and an upgraded sprinkler system near the Administration Building;
• landscaping and additional site lighting near the new parking lot behind the Modular 2 Building;
• improving the berms on the northwest side of the campus, including regrading the berms, upgrading the sprinkler system, and applying new soil and sod to the site;
• and making soil improvements to the campus courtyards to prevent bare spots where grass does not grow.

The project will be funded from 2014 Washington County bond funds and is estimated to cost $327,450.

In other action, the board authorized the College to award and execute a construction manager at risk contract with J.T. Vaughn Construction, LLC for construction at the RELLIS Campus. Blinn College and The Texas A&M System announced in May that Blinn would build a facility at the RELLIS Campus as part of the multi-institutional Gateway Education Center, which will provide space for Texas A&M System member institutions and Blinn to offer a variety of curricula. The campus establishes a new educational community combining a major university system and a community college as a single physical location, and will allow Blinn students to transfer seamlessly to leading universities throughout The Texas A&M System in the years to come.

The site also creates opportunities for Blinn to partner with other organizations and institutions located on the RELLIS Campus, including high-end, innovative, private research and development companies, the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), and the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX).

Blinn’s Phase 1 RELLIS Campus academic building will accommodate approximately 2,500 students and is scheduled to open in 2018.

For more information regarding Blinn’s future at the RELLIS Campus, please visit: www.blinn.edu/expansion/RELLIS.html.