Bob Brown, UNT Senior Vice President for finance and administration, and Steve Maruszewski, UNT's Vice Chancellor for Facilities, presented the campus master plan during a UNT System board of regents meeting on May 23.
Maruszewski said the master plan is on track for the board to approve in August. The master plan was completed a month earlier than expected.
Maruszewski said the original January 2023 completion date would have been too late for the spring 2023 semester. Maruszewski said the new, accelerated timeline anticipates completion in November 2022 so that UNT can open the doors by spring 2023.
“This would allow support of summer camps and other programming efforts on the site the following summer,” Maruszewski said at the meeting. “This change, along with some other scheduled adjustments, will allow us to gain a semester of occupancy with the facility being ready for use for the Spring of 2023.”
The first proposed building at the 100-acre Frisco branch campus features a multi-purpose academic facility with collaborative learning spaces, student support services, faculty and staff offices and communal gathering areas. The university spent fall 2018 to spring 2019 planning the programming for the first building and related campus access.
UNT and Frisco first announced partnership to build the campus on the southwest corner of Preston Road and Panther Creek Parkway in May 2018. A committee of UNT, Frisco and Collin County leaders then began meeting to discuss plans and design.
The UNT Frisco campus spans across 100 acres on the southwest corner of Preston Road and Panther Creek Parkway.[/caption]With the partnership of Ayers Saint Gross, an architecture firm focused on college and university design, the Frisco campus will have a traditional design with stone, steel and brick buildings and open spaces to complement the area’s trees and hills. Brown said the design plan incorporates the site’s natural surroundings.
“We will save the wetland areas and use them for environmental educational opportunities at the university, and for partnership with Frisco ISD and others,” Brown said in a statement. “A network of trails will provide a way for students and the community to enjoy the surroundings.”
Brown said the plan allows flexibility for the campus to connect to the adjacent parkland that the city is planning to add near the campus.
