Texas Border Business
By David Diaz
A plan to build a $12.2 million Classroom and Office Building for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s School of Medicine in Edinburg will be considered in Austin when the University of Texas System Board of Regents meets on February 26 and 27 of 2018.
The news were announced by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, and the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation. In addition, they said, that with substantial completion date projected for November 2019, the School of Medicine Classroom and Office Building will increase enrollment at the Edinburg campus from 100 to 200 students within one year of completion.
The construction could begin as early as September 2018. “This facility is necessary to accommodate current and expected growth in the School of Medicine while maintaining the mission of the school as a catalyst for education in health care,” states the executive summary provided to the UT System Board of Regents by UT System leaders.
“for the growing medical student population, flexible and general purpose classrooms, conference rooms, and support spaces.”
The proposed project will be an extension of the existing $54 million, 88,260 gross-square-foot Medical Education Building, which opened in the summer of 2016, when the first class of future physicians began their advanced studies in Edinburg.
The Edinburg EDC is the jobs-creation arm of Mayor Richard Molina, Mayor Pro-Tem David Torres, Councilmember Homer Jasso, Jr., Councilmember Gilbert Enríquez, and Councilmember Jorge Salinas. The Edinburg EDC Board of Directors is comprised of City Councilmember Gilbert Enríquez as President, Edinburg School Board Trustee Miguel “Mike” Farías as Vice-President, Isael Posadas, P.E., as Secretary/Treasurer, and Julio César Carranza and Noé Sauceda, Ph.D. as Members.
Canales represents House District 40, of which UTRGV and its School of Medicine have major campuses in the heart of Edinburg.
