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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHealth Science CenterCelebrating a partnership A&M, Bryan anticipate Health Science Center's impact By HOLLY HUFFMAN Eagle Sta,~`' Writer that would require them to design a conceptual model of a green campus for the Health Science Center. On that day in September 2006, Dickey talked with the _ Aggies about the features she was seeking in the campus: academic and peaceful; designed around functions rather than disciplines; inti- mately connected to Texas A&M University but inde- pendently separate; equally welcoming to the students it would train and the commu- nity it would serve. "You have to understand, at-this point, we had no land, limited funding, and had only recently begun very quiet conversations with communi- ty and [Texas A&M Universi- ty] System leaders about the idea of having a Health Sci- ence Center campus some- ixteen months ago, it was little more than a class Sproject -and maybe a twinkle in the eye of Nancy Dickey, Texas A&M Health Science Center president and A&M System vice chancellor of health affairs Dickey was meeting with architecture students about an upcoming class project Artists' renderings were unveiled during the hour- long ceremony, which fea- tured speeches from A&M System Chancellor Mike McKinney, Bryan Mayor Mark Colllee, Board of Regents Chairman Bill Jones, Chamber of Com- merce President Royce Hick- man, state Sen. Steve Ogden and state Rep. Fred Brown. "The birth of a new univer- , sity campus does not happen often. Those of us who worked.on this project had no idea how much work was involved to entice the univer- ~' sity to accept the 200-acre, $6 million gift," Colllee said wryly as audience members laughed. There were attitudes that had to be reshaped, concepts to be developed, boundary lines to be drawn and zoning issues to work out, he said. But ultimately, all that work brought both sides to the right decision, he said. The groundbreaking cere- mony, he said, provided Bryan residents a chance to celebrate a new and exciting opportunity -entering into a partnership with the Texas A&M Health Science Center. He welcomed to Bryan the Texas A&M System, the Health Science Center and the where in the Bryan-College Station community," Dickey said. Dickey didn't then know that the Texas A&M System Board of Regents would for- mally accept 200 acres of land - dedicated for such a cam- , pus -from the city of Bryan within three months. "We certainly did not know on that day in September 2006 that we would be standing here today, poised to break ground on that vision of the campus for the Health Sci- ence Center," Dickey said last week, standing before about 200 people gathered under a tent. Officials from the Texas A&M Health Science Center and the city of Bryan hosted the Wednesday morning groundbreaking ceremony, which drew dozens of com- e, munity leaders to the site. _a Aggie spirit. "Bryan is proud -proud to be one of the oldest cities in Texas, proud of our heritage and our accomplishments," Coulee said. "And we're proud of our progressive spir- it, aspirit that strives to enhance the lives of all our citizens by helping all to bet- ter health care and improved quality of life." Construction on the cam- pus is expected to begin this spring, with the first build- ings complete in 2010. But the Health Science Cen- ter is already making an impact on the Bryan-College Station community, said Hickman, the chamber of commerce president. Last year, the center per- formed $83 million worth of research, and that is likely to grow with the new, expanded campus, he said. The construction cost alone is expected to have a $130 mil- lion economic impact on the community, Hickman told the crowd. And that money is expected to turn over as many as three times. The larger campus also will allow more employees, he said. Currently, the Health Science Center employs about 1,300 people, but that will increase about 15 percent, to 1,500, when the campus is complete, Hick- man said. Near the end of the cere- mony, representatives from Texas A&M System and the city of Bryan pushed shovels - each painted maroon and marked with a bold, white A&M insignia - into a nar- row plot of ceremonial dirt. But just before the turning of the dirt, Ogden issued a challenge to the university officials. ' The state puts more money into health science centers than into the more than 30 upper-level degree grant col- lege institutions, he noted. That has been made possible, in part, tb the state's healthy economy and a resulting state surplus, he explained. So while it is important to thank A&M officials for their vision in creating the new campus, he said, it also is important to thank the state's taxpayers, who have support- ed the campus. "I challenge you to do this: When we break ground today, I want'you to send a message out to Texas taxpay- ers and the Texas Legisla- ture," Ogden told the crowd. "We appreciate the funding, we will be good stewards of that money and with it, we'll produce the best health care professionals in the coun- try."