This beautiful project is planned at TCU, and hey, it’s not football related

Do you love Texas Christian University but are a bit tired of all the talk about Horned Frog football?

Then this story should be music to your ears.

The university has plans to build a state-of-the-art facility for its School of Music, including a concert hall.

Word on the street is the addition to the College of Fine Arts will cost roughly $53 million, with TCU funding about half the cost and seeking donations from supporters for the rest

The project could give the eastern portion of the campus a whole new look for pedestrians, with a large amount of green space surrounding the planned new School of Music building near the present-day intersection of Greene Avenue and Princeton Street. It’s an area better known today for its parking lots, curbside parking and a nearby residential area.

The planned new School of Music building and concert hall would be built in a parking lot just east of the Brite Divinity School, about a block east of University Drive.

An Interior Design and Fashion Merchandising facility also is planned just east of the Moudy North building, and would be connected to the music building by a walkway.

“Just as the creation of the Campus Commons has transformed the west side of campus, the addition of the School of Music will further enhance the student experience on the east side of campus,” says an eight-page publication created as part of a fundraising campaign for the project.

The area surrounding the School of Music will be a “Creative Commons” connecting the newly renovated Mary Couts Burnett Library, J.M. Moudy Visual Arts and Communication Building and Rees-Jones Hall, according to the publication.

TCU hopes to break ground on the project in May and open the new concert hall in 2020, said Elizabeth Deegan, TCU College of Fine Arts development director. The Interior Design and Fashion Merchandising facility could open in fall 2019, she said.

“The University chose BORA Architects to design the new facility after a competitive nationwide selection process,” Deegan said in an email. “TCU is working with local contractors Hunt Construction Group and anticipate the construction process to be completed in about two years. Fundraising efforts are well underway.”

TCU sought input from property owners along TCU’s eastern edge and encountered no major opposition, said TCU spokeswoman Holly Ellman.

“We are proud of the open communication and active partnership with our neighbors,” Ellman said via email. “TCU hosted town hall meetings for the University Place and Frisco Heights Neighborhood Associations to explain the details of the plans (School of Music, College of Fine Arts, Neeley School of Business addition, parking and utility improvements, rezoning and temporary/permanent road closures) and highlight the city processes required.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 9:00 AM with the headline "This beautiful project is planned at TCU, and hey, it’s not football related."