UT-Austin Board of Regents Announces Campus Landmark Renovation
The University of Texas System Board of Regents recently announced that it will provide a $26-million lead investment toward the restoration and renovation of the UT Tower at the UT-Austin campus. Work will include restoring the building’s façade and updating the observation deck and carillon bells, according to a university news release.
The project will also entail landscaping and renovation of the surrounding area, including the Main Mall. This will be the structure’s first major renovation project since its original completion in 1937, local news reports.
“From afar, if we light it up, it’s beautiful. But if you get up close, you can realize it’s time,” said UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell. “It’s time t get it back to the position and stature and have it gleam the way it should.”
The Tower’s renovation is part of a larger effort to revitalize the campus and draw students back to the community following the COVID-19 pandemic. “All of this is part of this ‘campus vibrancy’ idea,” said Hartzell. “[The Tower renovation] is one of many campus projects to use the campus as a catalyst to bring us back together, and I think we feel that sense of need to do that more acutely now after COVID than we did before.”
The university will release more information about the Tower’s renovation project during the Texas Longhorns home football game on Nov. 12, according to local news.
About the Author
Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].