New student housing to be built at UTMSI




Renderings show what a student and scholar housing complex is expected to look like after an $8 million construction project is finished at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas. Ground was broken on the complex on Tuesday, May 19.

Renderings show what a student and scholar housing complex is expected to look like after an $8 million construction project is finished at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas. Ground was broken on the complex on Tuesday, May 19.

Officials broke ground on an $8 million housing complex at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute on Tuesday, April 12.

The complex will support 34 graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and undergraduate students, according to a news release issued by the institute.

It will be located near existing housing on the south side of the intersection of Cotter Avenue and Tarrant Street.

The new housing is a product of the natural disaster that struck Port Aransas in 2017.

“ Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on The University of Texas Marine Science Institute and left no corner of the UTMSI campus untouched,” said a news release issued by the institute.

That included losing some housing.

“The University of Texas at Austin made a commitment to fund and replace the housing destroyed by Hurricane Harvey,” the news release said.

The COVID-19 pandemic slowed construction operations, reduced resources availability and increased costs of materials, impacting the housing project.

Images: Turner Ramirez Architects

Images: Turner Ramirez Architects

“With help from State Representative Todd Hunter, UTMSI secured resources to bridge the funding gap that emerged and allow for the project to get underway,” the release said.

Fourteen single- story structures will be built.

They’ll be a mix of single and double units and duplexes, according to Sally Palmer, a UTMSI spokesman.

Groundwork is expected to begin in the next week or so, and construction should wrap up within about two years, she said.

The complex was designed by Turner Ramirez Architects of Corpus Christi. The builder will be Geofill Construction of Schertz.

Officials at the groundbreaking included State Rep. Todd Hunter and David Vanden Bout, dean of the University of Texas College of Natural Sciences.

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