Issue date: 3/27/07 Section: News

Courtesy of the Council on the Built Environment Practice courts, additional locker rooms, study areas and offices for coaches will be added during an expansion of Reed Arena, which is a part of Vision 2020. Vision 2020 is Texas A&M's roadmap for attaining its quest to be recognized as a consensus 'top 10' public university by the year 2020, according to the plan's website.

As a part of pursuing Vision 2020, numerous construction projects across campus are underway or in the planning stages - including a proposed expansion of Reed Arena, said Bill Perry, vice provost and chair of Council on the Built Environment (CBE).

Building off the momentum the athletic teams have created, Perry said the council wants to create better facilities for athletes. Plans include adding onto the existing structure and creating separate wings for men and women athletes.

The expansion would allow for practice courts, training areas, locker rooms for practice and games, offices for coaches and a study area.

The council has also approved plans for a liberal arts, arts and humanities building, and the deans of the respective colleges will work together on deciding who will occupy different parts of the building in order to be as efficient as possible, Perry said.

"The deans are having the discussion about occupancy of the building and how they are designed," he said.

Along with the renovations to multiple buildings on campus, including Reed McDonald and the YMCA building, several buildings will have new occupants beginning in fall 2007.

Infrastructure changes will be made on Ross Street and the addition of grade separators, or underpasses will be constructed on Wellborn Road.

"Most of the construction will be done by 2010, the (Interdisciplinary Life Sciences) building probably by the middle of '09," Perry said.

Projects have been proposed to construct additional roadways to improve vehicular transportation, including buses, on campus. He said one possibility is an inner-campus loop, but the projects are in the preliminary stages.

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