The University of Texas at Arlington recently unveiled the latest update to campus, a newly renovated entrance to the E.H. Hereford University Center. The enhancements provide a more welcoming entrance for students, faculty, staff, alumni and guests who visit the UC.
“The University Center hosts nearly 8,000 events in a normal year, and I am confident that the entrance will be enjoyed by the entire University community,” says Teik C. Lim, the university’s interim president. “We look forward to the day when we can gather here in person.”
Due to concerns regarding COVID, the ribbon cutting at the end of September was a closed event to ensure a small gathering where participants could maintain social distance from one another.
Designs for the $9.8 million project started in 2018, with construction to transform the space near the Bluebonnet Ballroom and Rosebud Theatre beginning in September 2019. The updates include a new entrance, pedestrian walkway, formal promenade and a parking lot that extends to UTA Boulevard. Final touches, including landscaping and outdoor lighting, wrapped up just prior to the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“The goal was to develop the north side of the UC into an inviting and open campus entrance in order to create a signature entrance to a building that suffered from a lack of identity,” says Troy Yoder, director of institutional construction. “Since most of our VIP events that we have on campus involve the Bluebonnet Ballroom, it really is a premier location. The entrance to the building now lives up to its function.”
The transformation features a two-story glass entrance, limestone materials and terrazzo flooring that matches the space with newer parts of the UC, such as the Lockheed Martin Career Development Center atrium.
