By Carey Eskridge
A couple weeks ago Dee posted about the report issued by the University of Texas Brackenridge tract Task Force relating to the large parcel of land owned by the school in West Austin. It didn't take long for the first development proposal to surface.
Several faculty members of the School of Biological Sciences at UT-Austin have proposed that a biodiversity institute be located on the property. With a price tag that exceeds $100 million, the institute would house research facilities, storage for millions of plant and animal specimens, classrooms, greenhouses, and a natural history museum.
The institute would also encompass other already existing research facilities such as the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the Plant Resources Center.
OTHER POTENTIAL USES OF THE BRACKENRIDGE TRACT
Apparently, the idea of the institute is not new. One of the task force's recommendations for the Brackenridge Tract was the possible downsizing or relocation of a biology field lab currently located on the property. Not surprisingly, retaining and even improving the lab is part of the proposal for the institute.
With the board of regents considering the task force's recommendations, the timing of the proposal probably isn't coincidental, especially given the implications for the lab. The professors are mainly interested in the creation of the institute, not in the Brackenridge tract. Everyone involved has made it clear that discussions of the potential uses for the property are extremely preliminary and raising more than $100 million is no small task, even for UT.
The future development of the site is years away. I'd prefer something more interesting for the city as a whole, although proposal does include an aquarium and museum much like the Blanton and extends the hike and bike trail through the property. But this is certainly an interesting idea and there are a lot worse things that could happen to the land.
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