Location Texas
Client Texas State University System (TSUS)
Services Construction Management, Program Management, Project Management, Project Management Oversight
Project Value $550 Million
Hill is providing project management, construction management, and program management oversight services to the Texas State University System (TSUS) on construction projects throughout TSUS’s portfolio. This includes simultaneous new construction, expansion, and renovation projects involving academic, athletic, administrative, and residential facilities on multiple campuses throughout Texas. In addition to driving admissions, these projects will facilitate student learning, help address statewide and national workforce gaps, and contribute to scientific and cultural advancement by training scholars, teachers, and leaders. Notable projects supported by Hill’s on-site project and construction managers include:
Lamar Institute of Technology’s Workforce and Allied Health Training Center, Beaumont, TX: The Workforce and Allied Health Training Center is a three-story building with an embedded high-bay instructional space. The first floor features a welcoming main lobby and student lounge and includes workforce instructional spaces, a simulation suite, and the Industrial Partners Flex Lab—an innovative and flexible space that facilitates collaboration between students and industry practitioners. The second floor is dedicated to the school’s Allied Health program and contains nursing skills labs, flex labs, and a student gathering space. The third floor contains the main testing center, pharmacy lab, classrooms, and staff offices. The center supports Lamar Institute of Technology students with training tailored to workforce opportunities in multiple industries.
Lamar State College Orange’s New Academic Building, Orange, TX: The New Academic Building delivers lecture classrooms, computer classrooms, science labs, and student gathering spaces. The building ties into the recently completed Gatemouth Plaza, creating a termination to the pedestrian greenspace and sidewalk that traverses the heart of campus. Totaling approximately 54,800 SF, the New Academic Building also provides flexibility for the future growth of the College’s Science and Allied Health disciplines, Information Technology Services, and administrative offices.
Lamar State College Orange’s Student Success Center, Orange, TX: TSUS is renovating the First Baptist Church of Orange was originally constructed in 1915 in the Greek Revival style. It quickly became a landmark for the community and served the city of Orange for over a century. The historic church will be re-envisioned as the Student Success Center for Lamar State College Orange. The two-story, approximately 15,000 square foot adaptive reuse project will allow all student services to be housed under one roof to enhance student experience and lower barriers of entry to higher education. The project team will also prioritize the protection and restoration of the building’s iconic historical features.
Sul Ross State University’s Fine Arts Building, Alpine, TX: TSUS is renovating Sul Ross State University’s existing fine arts facilities, including the Francois Fine Arts Building and the Kokernot Lodge Complex, as part of the campus master plan. These projects will address inadequate space for the University’s current fine arts programs. By renovating the Fine Arts Building and improving its infrastructure, the Fine Arts Building project will improve the student experience, increase accessibility, and enhance theatre productions and musical performances staged in the facility.
Sul Ross State University’s Museum of the Big Bend, Alpine, TX: This project consists of a one story, 14,000 SF expansion to Sul Ross State University’s Museum of the Big Bend. The expansion will provide much-needed exhibition space for permanent and temporary exhibits, as well as event space, museum support spaces, a new lobby that connects to the existing museum, and parking. The museum building itself has much historical value. So, the project team will not alter many of the building’s existing features, such as its exterior walls and stained-glass windows. Rather, the project will restore these and other elements to promote the materials’ longevity and preserve the building’s historical characteristics.
Lamar State College Port Arthur’s New Allied Health and Sciences Building, Port Arthur, TX: The $37 million, 56,000 SF New Allied Health and Sciences Building will feature classrooms and learning spaces of multiple sizes to meet the needs of classes at different levels, clinical simulation spaces for nursing students, laboratories, a faculty office suite, and student gathering space. The building’s comfortable, flexible, and functional spaces will support different types of learning experiences and campus events to best support students academically and socially. Located conspicuously and adjacent to the existing Allied Health Building, the New Allied Health and Sciences Building will support the growth of the college’s nursing, biology, and chemistry programs.
Lamar State College Port Arthur’s Industrial Training Center, Port Arthur, TX: The Industrial Training Center project involves the construction of a new 7,325 SF building and the conversion of Lamar State College Port Arthur’s existing 24,000 SF Armory Building into a hub for training welders, electricians, instrument technicians, advanced riggers, pipefitters, and structural steel workers. The conversion of the Armory involves comprehensive renovations and upgrades to support a state-of-the-art technical educational training facility. The new building will feature three new classrooms that can function independently, divide into smaller spaces, or combine to serve as one large multipurpose lecture and/or gathering space as required.
Lamar State College Port Arthur’s Ruby Fuller Annex and Renovation, Port Arthur, TX: The Ruby Fuller Education Building was constructed in 1915 as a Methodist church. In 1976, the building was deeded to the Lamar University System and renamed after Ruby Fuller, who worked as a Sunday School teacher at the church for 42 years. Until 2017 the original building and an addition, the Education Annex, housed college classes, offices, and events. In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey struck, causing flooding damage to the building. Following the hurricane, the award-winning Ruby Fuller Education Building Renovation and Expansion Project reinstituted and enhanced college operations in the building. The project included repairing hurricane-related damages, removing the entire first-floor sanctuary and second-floor mezzanine, and replacing these spaces with offices, classrooms, a bookstore, and a small deli. The project team restored and preserved the building’s original Gothic and Tudor architecture, including its brick façade with cast stone along the parapets and windowsills, two asymmetrical towers, elliptical and flat arches around the entryways, and stained-glass windows. In addition, the team removed an original classroom addition, allowing for a secondary entrance to the building. The project also demolished the existing Education Annex to accommodate a new 5,000 SF two-story facility, including a large multipurpose room for events and gatherings. The restored building houses the college’s Title V Grant Program—Title V coaches and tutors are dedicated to supporting the college’s Hispanic and Latin population—as well as the college’s education classes.
TSUS’s Christmas Mountains Field Research Station, Brewster County, TX: The Christmas Mountains serve as a 9,600-acre field research laboratory for TSUS students and faculty conducting research, educational outreach, and networking. Historically, opportunities at the magnificent location have been limited by inadequate infrastructure. To further the use of this property, TSUS is undertaking the construction of a Field Research Station to include classroom and gathering space, research space, overnight accommodations, and storage. This project also includes repairs to the nearby Ament Lake Dam, constructed in 1911. Programming for the Field Research Station is ongoing, and an analysis of repair options for the dam is nearing completion.
Other notable projects include:
The Hill project and construction management team is providing boots-on-the-ground support to TSUS for the entire project life cycle of each assignment. This includes the management of design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and closeout. Hill prioritizes the implementation of proven cost, schedule, and quality controls to protect TSUS’s budget objectives and vision for their new facilities, as well as rigorous safety and environmental controls to protect the student experience through all construction activities. Hill’s support has led to the successful on-time, within-budget delivery of multiple projects within TSUS’s system, including the Lamar State College Port Arthur Industrial Technology Center and the award-winning Lamar State College Port Arthur Ruby Fuller Education Building.
In addition to direct project and construction management support, Hill is also implementing program management oversight across the rest of TSUS’s capital programs. As program manager, Hill helps establish key performance indicators, monitors project performance, and captures efficiencies, best practices, and lessons learned throughout TSUS’s project delivery organization.
