Board of Regents Approves Brooks Village Project; Ratifies Dallas Regent Jim Turner As Chair

by Larry Brumley (254) 710-1964

Brooks Village fact sheet: https://www.baylor.edu/pr/news.php?action=story&story=38780

Brooks Hall history: https://www.baylor.edu/pr/news.php?action=story&story=38779

Text of Underwood Proclamation: https://www.baylor.edu/pr/news.php?action=story&story=38781

President Lilley Announces Administrative Appointments: https://www.baylor.edu/pr/news.php?action=story&story=38783

The Baylor University Board of Regents at its winter meeting today authorized the construction of a new 700-bed residential complex and approved the issuance of up to $63.5 million in bonds to finance the project.
The residential facility is projected to cost $42.8 million. An 800-car parking garage to support the residential complex on the southeastern part of campus will cost approximately $8.3 million. Utility upgrades, financing costs and property acquisitions constitute the balance of the bond issue.
The parking garage, which will be built between Eighth and Ninth streets across from Ruth Collins Hall and Mary Gibbs Jones Family and Consumer Sciences Building, will include about 10,000 square feet of retail and office space. Its architecture will be similar to the East Campus Parking Garage.
Brooks Village will consist of a 384-bed residential college that freshman as well as upper class students will occupy and a group of residential flats for upper class students, providing 316 beds very similar to Baylor's North Village layout. The architecture of the residential college will incorporate many of the external features of the current Brooks Hall, including the landmark Brooks Arch. The complex will also feature a great hall, a chapel, a dining room, library and resource center, group study rooms, and classrooms.
Named for Baylor's seventh president, Samuel Palmer Brooks, the current residence hall was constructed in 1921, making it the university's oldest student housing. Among its former residents are Board of Regents Chair Will Davis and Baylor President John M. Lilley.
"The Brooks Village project is an important part of the University's 10-year vision," Lilley said. "It will help us enhance the learning environment, move us toward a stronger residential campus, and increase our ability to attract and retain top students."
Dr. Reagan M. Ramsower, vice president for finance and administration, told the regents that Brooks Village will pay for itself over the life of the project.
The board also ratified the appointment of Dallas regent Jim Turner to the office of chair of the board. For the past year, Turner has served as chair-elect and vice chair. He will assume the chairmanship on June 1.
In other action, the board unanimously affirmed and presented a framed resolution of appreciation to William D. Underwood, who served as Baylor's interim president from June 1 to Dec. 31, 2005. On Dec. 2 Underwood was unanimously elected president of sister Baptist institution Mercer University in Macon, Ga.