BEAUMONT – Lamar Institute of Technology unveiled its 10-year master plan to the community, faculty, staff and students on Tuesday evening at the Multi-Purpose Center.
The master plan, presented by Wendy Shabay and Shad Comeaux of the firm Freese and Nichols, allows for LIT’s growth and upgrading of its facilities.
Shabay said that the firm worked to create an identity, a “physical vision,” for LIT, one that will separate it from the neighborhood.
The master plan attempts to address issues that the firm discovered through observation and discussion with the community, faculty, staff and students.
One of the issues that LIT faces is parking, a universal complaint on college campuses, Shabay said.
Based upon those discussions, the firm made recommendations to LIT, parceling out the plan into three phases.
In phase 1, Technical buildings 2 and 3 will be demolished and a new classroom/lab building will be built. A plaza area, to be used as a gathering area for students, will be constructed and there will be new parking areas.
In phase 2, a new technology center will replace Technical buildings 4 and 5, parking will be reconfigured and there will be an addition to the classroom/lab building constructed in phase 2.
Also included in phase 2 will be a storage/maintenance facility, additional parking, visitors’ parking and a new entry into the campus.
Phase 3 will add a student services/learning support building and signage so that LIT can be clearly identified from Martin Luther King Parkway.
Estimated cost for the improvements will be $63 million.
While this plan is intended to improve the campus over 10 years, “speed is tied to funding,” said Dr. Paul Szuch, president of LIT.
The Texas State University System Board of Regents has approved LIT’s capital improvements, but the Texas Legislature has not granted a request to issue tuition revenue bonds.
To view the master plan report and renderings of the plan, see http://www.lit.edu/about/masterplan.aspx