BLINN UNVEILS PLANS FOR NEW BRYAN CAMPUS

  

Blinn College’s two newest trustees were welcomed with a glimpse of the College’s bright future in Bryan.

Two new trustees were sworn in at Blinn’s regular December meeting Tuesday before viewing the completed master plan for a new campus scheduled to open in 2017.

The addition of College Station Mayor Nancy Berry and former city

of Bryan Mayor Pro Tem Ann Horton expands Blinn’s board membership to nine. Berry was elected mayor of College Station in 2010 and re-elected in 2013, and previously served as a member of the city council from 2004-06. Horton was elected to the maximum two terms representing Single Member District 4 on the Bryan City Council from 2007 until 2014, including a term as mayor pro tem.

Both trustees were appointed by Brazos County Commissioners Court from Blinn’s Bryan Campus Advisory Committee. Per House Bill 2621, both trustees will serve two-year terms and have the same responsibilities as other trustees, though they may not serve as board officers and cannot vote on matters related to the imposition of a tax or the distribution of revenue raised from a tax. Blinn College’s taxing district is Washington County.

The new nine-member board viewed a comprehensive master plan for the new Bryan campus at 851 N. Harvey Mitchell Parkway. Purchased in February, Blinn plans to develop the 95-acre site into a 15,000-student campus to complement the College’s pre-existing Bryan campus on Villa Maria Road. The additional campus will allow Blinn to develop additional science, technology, engineering and mathematics offerings and expand its workforce, technical, research and health-related education programs.

The master plan, developed in partnership with Kirksey Architecture, ultimately calls for the development of seven academic buildings, three student resource buildings and 5,423 parking spaces.

Phase 1 of the project, which would be completed in Fall 2017 and serve approximately 2,500 students, includes an academic building, a student resource building and approximately 1,000 parking spaces. The four-story academic building would include 18 classrooms and eight laboratories, while the student resource center would include a library, study and leisure space, campus police and other student services.

As proposed, Phase 1 has a preliminary $35 million construction budget.

The campus design will incorporate three ponds currently on the property. Steve Durham of Kirksey Architecture said the design is specifically crafted to utilize the ponds, flora and large oak trees already on the site.

Blinn announced record enrollment of 19,422 students last Fall, and has experienced 38.3 percent enrollment growth since 2006. Previous master planning efforts indicate that Blinn’s growth will continue due to the College’s strong academic reputation and its partnerships with Texas A&M, Baylor, Sam Houston State and Texas State universities, and the universities of Texas and Houston. According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Blinn’s academic transfer rate of 42.9 percent is the highest in the state.

For more information regarding Blinn’s new Bryan campus, visit: www.blinn.edu/expansion.