UNT officials invited university and city leadership to the Frisco Landing campus Jan. 12 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony before more than 2,000 students begin classes Jan. 17.
“Having a university like UNT Frisco in our community has been a dream of this community for a very long time,” Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney said in a speech to attendees.
After cutting the ribbon, which will be saved and stored in a time capsule, UNT President Neal Smatresk said, guests were ushered into the new building for a self-guided tour.
The four-story building holds 29 classrooms and 69 “huddle rooms,” or smaller meeting rooms for students, according to UNT staff. A cafe, recreation center, career center and other amenities are also available throughout the building.
“I just want to congratulate everyone that had a part in today, from the leadership team, certainly for the UNT team for believing in our community as a place that you put your roots down,” Cheney told attendees. “And we're just getting started.”
UNT started offering classes in Frisco in 2016 with a satellite campus at Hall Park, becoming the first four-year institution to do so in Collin County.
Construction of Frisco Landing first began in fall 2020. Now with a new main campus, UNT Frisco classes will no longer be held at Hall Park, according to the UNT Frisco website.
Starting Jan 17, only Frisco Landing will hold classes with lab spaces available at Inspire Park, a business-focused space on Research Road one block east of the Dallas North Tollway.
“We've had those different buildings temporarily here, and now we have a permanent home where all of these things are happening in one place,” UNT College of Education Dean Randy Bomer said. “It's much more convenient for students.”
Frisco Landing is located 12995 Preston Road, neighboring other large city developments, such as the Omni PGA Resort Hotel and the recently announced Universal theme park. UNT has had agreements with PGA before to give students work opportunities, and Universal could make a similar offer, Smatresk said.
“[Universal does] want to work with our faculty, and of course they want students,” Smatresk said.
The new campus is considered just one of many first steps for the future of UNT in Frisco.
“We’re already talking about what we need next,” Smatresk said.
More information is available at https://frisco.unt.edu.
