Tarleton’s southwest Fort Worth campus is growing. Here’s what’s next for the school.
The only neighbors of Tarleton State University’s Fort Worth campus are cows.
But not for long.
The university on Wednesday broke ground on a new $66 million campus building, the first of several as Tarleton anticipates more than doubling its enrollment by 2030.
The Interprofessional Education Building will join the school’s sole structure, which sits atop a stark hill surrounded by undeveloped fields off Chisholm Trail Parkway.
The 100,000-square-foot new project will house classrooms and laboratories for expanded healthcare and education instruction. The project is being financed by the Permanent University Fund. Perkins&Will is the architect and designer of the building. Holder Construction is builder.
“It is absolutely wonderful,” said Anika Flippin, secretary of Tarleton Ambassadors and a sophomore at the school’s main Stephenville campus. “It’s a very good step in the right direction.”
Tartleton’s Fort Worth campus currently educates about 2,300 students and anticipates enrolling 6,000 students by 2030. It offers more than 60 undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs.
Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony gathered students, faculty, local political leaders and stakeholders of the Texas A&M University system, of which Tarleton is a member. And, of course, the Purple Poo — the state’s oldest spirit organization.
The growth of the school’s Fort Worth campus reflects the rapid growth of the city, speakers said.
In fact, the new building is just the next step in plans for Tarleton’s growth on its 80-acre site in southwest Fort Worth. The university’s 2017 Master Plan details plans to build a formal quad, athletic fields and additional buildings for academic programs and student life.
“What we can tell you is that you ain’t seen nothing yet when it comes to what we’re fixin’ to do at Tarleton,” said Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp.
The Interprofessional Education Building is expected to open in 2024.
This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 6:54 PM.
