BLINN BOARD AUTHORIZES CONTRACTS FOR BRENHAM CAMPUS SPORTS & INTRAMURAL ZONE, WALLER-HARRIS CAMPUS ACADEMIC BUILDING
The Blinn Board of Trustees on Thursday took the next steps toward a sports and intramural zone on the Brenham Campus and an academic building on the new Waller/Harris County Campus.
Thursday about the proposed sports and intramural
zone project on the Brenham Campus.
The board authorized the College to proceed with contracts with Pfluger Architects, Inc. and CannonDesign for architectural services respective to the sports and intramural zone and academic building.
The sports and intramural zone, to be located near the W.J. “Bill” Rankin Agricultural Complex, is part of the College’s Districtwide Facilities Master Plan established in 2021. The plan calls for a practice football field with artificial turf, competition soccer and softball fields, a putting/chipping green, and a 27,000-square-foot field house that contains sports offices, locker rooms and training facilities. The anticipated project cost is $29.5 million.
Thursday regarding the proposed project to build
an academic building on the new Waller-Harris
County Campus.
The 87,000-square-foot academic building will be the first piece of developing the Waller-Harris County location, which will be Blinn’s sixth campus. The project has an estimated $68 million budget.
The timeline for both projects calls for the hiring of a construction manager at risk in April and approval of a guaranteed maximum price this winter. The College anticipates opening both facilities by August 2027.
Also on Thursday, trustees received enrollment, housing and graduation reports. Vice Chancellor for Student Services Dr. Becky McBride reported that Blinn enrolled 2,152 students during the winter minimester, an increase of 1.13 percent from the previous year.
Preliminary spring enrollment comes in at 15,822 students. That number is down 0.82 percent from the spring 2024 certified enrollment, but Dr. McBride said it exceeds the certified totals of spring 2021-2023 and noted that registration is still open for the College’s spring second 8-week term through March 17th.
In other business, the board approved administrators to negotiate contracts for:
- Replacing the roof at the J. Hal and Allyne Machat Music Facility on the Brenham Campus, through Roofing Solutions LLC for $246,200;
- Phase two of a water heater replacement project at the Blinn College Park Apartments in Brenham, through AMS for $107,500;
- Mechanical repairs at Buildings A and G on the Bryan Campus, through AMS for $270,700.
I listened to the Board Meeting in its entirety and paid attention to numbers.
I am COMPLETELY dumbfounded. Why would Blinn spend all this money for one student in Waller when they have declining enrollment at other campuses?
Board of Trustees – With all due respect, STOP drinking the Kool-Aid. Just because Blinn builds it DOES NOT mean they will come. PLEASE fix what is currently broken!