Anearly $31 million upgrade is coming to the Blinn College Bryan campus after the college’s trustees approved plans for a new administration building along with a new entrance and parking lots last week.
The new 45,000-square-foot administration building will be at the site of the former Rivergate Church, which will be demolished, allowing the college to consolidate non-academic services for students in one location with the expected completion date of fall 2023.
In addition to the Rivergate Church building, several adjacent buildings and the Bryan campus “S” building will be demolished to make way for new construction.
A Nash Street extension will create a new entrance to campus with an accompanying monument sign. The extension will connect the new building and parking lots on the campus. The monument is planned for the intersection of Nash Drive and East Villa Maria Road.
Richard Bray, the director of communications for Blinn College, said the new entrance will improve the traffic flow around campus.
“This will be one more way for people to get on and off of campus. It gives … a brand new entrance and exit on that north side of the campus,” he said.
The new building is expected to house Blinn’s Student Services for registration, testing, financial aid and associated office space.
The facility will also house the campus police department, administration offices, campus bookstore and the student services currently located in the Central Administrative Services Building at the Tejas Center. The plans also include the construction of a coffee shop and grab-and-go dining facility and associated parking with 150 spaces.
“We are planning to move all of those departments into this facility, and we are still trying to figure out the programming that will go into the building,” Bray said. “That is part of what the architect will help us finalize once we go into that contract as we are targeting a way to consolidate our non-academic services.”
Bray said the building is not expected to house classrooms but will be used for academic advising, enrollment services, financial aid and other student services.
This construction project is the first of three phases of Blinn’s districtwide facilities master plan, which can be viewed at blinn.edu/master-plan. The plan was approved by trustees in May.
Other aspects of the first phase include improvements to the campus library for new study, meeting and learning spaces. Phase two is the construction of a new fine arts and academic building, along with renovations to the student center and expansion of the existing ceramics lab for use as a physical plant lab. Phase three is the construction of a new fitness and activity center, along with enhancements to Briar Creek Trail Loop and streetscape improvements to the north and west campus. All three phases are projected to be completed by 2040.
