The University of Texas System Board of Regents today voted unanimously to approve the lease of approximately 4.0 acres in the northwest portion of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston's Victory Lakes campus in League City to the Gulf Coast Center to facilitate construction of a transit terminal with surface parking.
Coleen McHugh, who is vice chair of the Board of Regents and is chair of the Health Affairs Committee, made the motion for approval. Listen: RealPlayer MP3
The transit terminal will consist of a bus terminal and surface parking for approximately 450 vehicles, and is planned to provide park and ride bus service to Galveston. The land is currently vacant, but is within walking distance of the UTMB Specialty Care Center currently under construction at the Victory Lakes campus.
“The transit terminal site was selected to simplify the planned, phased development of the campus,” said the staff report.
On Thursday, the Board of Regents, were updated on the Campus Master Plan for UTMB in Galveston.
Regent Jim Dannenbaum urged the planners to work in conjunction with flood mitigation studies that are being conducted.
“The communities in the Gulf Coast counties are joining together for some kind of project which, for the time being is being loosely referred to as the Ike Dike, but something that hopefully would mitigate the kind of disastrous things that the area experienced before,” Dannenbaum said. “And the planning of these facilities to be consistent with, compatible and not in conflict with any of the proposed footprints of the flood mitigation effort. Woe be unto us if we build a new building that we had to come along and tear down in order to facilitate a broader flood mitigation.”
The Board of Regents took no action on the plan, but members of the Facilities Planning and Construction Committee, as well as Chair Printice L. Gary, were supportive of the plan.
“It’s exciting to see this planning taking place,” Gary said, praising UTMB President Dr. David Callender for his leadership. “I am sure the community down there is excited and is going to be even more excited when they see some dirt flying.”
The Board of Regents meeting was at the U.T. Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.