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UH-Clear Lake breaks ground on new residence hall
June 15, 2018 | Jim Townsend
Pictured with University of Houston-Clear Lake President Ira K. Blake are members
of the student housing committee. From left, Lt. Kyle Pirtle of the UHCL Police Department
(standing in for Chief Allen Hill), Dean of Students David Rachita, Associate Vice
President for Student Services Darlene F. Biggers, Blake, Director of Residential
Housing and Student Life Amy Snyder and Derrell Means, director of Grounds, Custodial
Services and Parking.
Against a backdrop of busy construction workers and earth-moving machines already in motion, University of Houston-Clear Lake hosted a groundbreaking ceremony June 12 for a 294-bed residence hall. The ceremony “formally marks another milestone in UH-Clear Lake’s 21st century transformation – all designed to better serve students and to enhance our role within our region,” said President Ira K. Blake.
That transformation began to take shape in 2014, when the 44-year-old university, nestled within a wildlife habitat near Johnson Space Center, became a four-year institution.
“Our ultimate goal as a public institution of higher learning is to comprehensively prepare our students for personal and professional success in our region and beyond,” Blake told the gathered group of administrators, faculty, staff, and representatives from PKB Architects Inc. and Tellepsen Builders.
Blake added, “One might ask, ‘How does a residence hall contribute to that goal?’ … Interestingly, it appears that residential campus life can be boiled down to the cravings of Harry Potter and his peer novice magicians at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – a residential campus where just about anything is possible, sort of like the life changes we at UHCL strive to accomplish,” Blake said. “Students crave for opportunities for growth in a safe environment, support and praise from those they admire and respect, and a sense of group identity and community.”
In a message to the new hall’s future residents, Associate Vice President for Student Services Darlene F. Biggers added, “May you have a safe and comfortable living-and-learning environment. May your learning be enhanced through the different experiences with faculty, staff and other students. May your engagement with the university – and involvement in student activities – increase as a result of living on campus. And may you form friendships that will last for decades.”
The residence hall is scheduled to open for the fall 2019 semester. It will feature suites in three configurations: two single rooms with a shared bathroom; two double rooms with a shared bathroom or a single room with private bathroom. The hall will complement the privately run University Forest Apartments, which are located on campus off Bay Area Boulevard. About 280 students lease one- to four-bedroom apartments there.
Construction on UHCL’s physical expansion began in 2017. A new Recreation and Wellness Center and a three-story STEM and Classroom Building will open this fall. At UHCL Pearland Campus, a new Health Sciences Classroom Building will open spring 2019.
For more information about the new on-campus housing, visit www.uhcl.edu/campus-life/housing/residence-hall .