$30M Academic Building V Scheduled To Open January 2009

The usual start-of-semester rundown of the campus construction projects appeared in the August 28 issue of the Houstonian:

...the corner [of the new campus mall] formerly occupied by the Telephone and University Post Office building was recently demolished and the system relocated to Academic Building I. "We finished the [demolition] before the break between Summer 2 and the start of fall," John McCroskey, Associate Director of the Physical Plant, said. "We still have a few pieces of rubble to haul off, but once we get that moved out of the way we're going to complete the campus mall construction project...."

Academic Building V...is nearing completion. According to McCroskey, the building is about 80 percent complete. "We are planning to open the building for classes in January," McCrosky said. "It's going to be a push but we'll get there" McCroskey said.

Plans [for the new Performing Arts Center] are in the finalizing process, and McCrosky said he expects to break [ground] on October 2.

Plans are also in place for a new dining hall on the north side of campus.

The existing campus master plan expires this year, opening the way for the new plan, which will be approved in November, to further modify the campus. "We're just now completing the master plan for the next twelve years, to send it to the Board of Regents for approval in November," McCroskey said. "The master plan will be approved and we'll probably start programming two or three of those buildings."