UTPB breaks new ground

University of Texas Permian Basin music chair Dan Keast daydreams of listening to the Lone Star Brass Quartet performing in front of a glass wall in a room with perfect acoustics while overlooking the West Texas plains.

His daydreams could become a reality in spring 2012.

Soon the UTPB campus will look like one big construction sight with two multimillion-dollar projects on campus and a third project breaking new ground on FM 1788 where the UTPB Wagner-Noel Performing Arts Center is expected to go up.

The center will give West Texans a new venue that UTPB President David Watts and others hope lure in traveling Broadway shows, ballet performances and top concerts while giving a better acoustical home for the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale.

"(Currently) there are no facilities for West Texans to appreciate a whole host of live performances," Watts said.

UTPB's senior project manager David Wayland said the structure will have a performing arts and recital hall totaling 97,700 square feet.

The building will seat 1,800 people, which Watts said is significant for the university.

A few he mentioned were that the JBS Lecture Series will be able to accommodate a larger audience, and UTPB can host commencements all under one roof.

Wayland said the building would have "perfect acoustics," an orchestra pit and multiple drops for curtains and scenery changes, which will make the building a suitable venue to a whole slew of performances.

Watts said it will offer ample experiences for the students, and they will be exposed to the "finest performances" at a reduced price.

Watts said the building would also serve as "a first class facility for students to perform recitals."

It will also have 10,500 square feet in a complimentary academic wing with classrooms and faculty offices, Wayland said.

"Our vision and objective are to expand our education and cultural opportunities," said Grant Billingsley, community chair for the performing arts advisory committee.

‘A RAY OF HOPE'

Keast and his music student Derek Wooten are looking forward to the center opening soon.

Although Wooten will no longer be a student at UTPB by time the center opens in spring 2012, he plans to join the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale, which now finds its home in the Mid-Cities Community Church.

The native Odessan was involved with music from fourth grade to 12th grade, but he left his passion when he joined the military.

He may have left music, but he said music never left him.

When returning to school 18 years later to study business management at UTPB, Wooten said one music class had him right back where he started.

"I took a music appreciation class at UTPB and realized how much I missed it," Wooten said of music.

Wooten is now a little more than a semester away before he can play professionally and teach music in Odessa.

He said the performing arts center will help recruit and keep musicians in the area instead of sending them to Austin or Lubbock.

Keast said he's watched the music department grow considerably since he was recruited to restart the once dormant program in 2004.

The music department is running out of space, causing issues where various ensembles are practicing at the same time in different rooms that aren't soundproof, which he said can be a cacophonous challenge.

He called the new performing arts center a "ray of hope" for locals and students - the new academic wing will have soundproof walls to practice in and a variety of venues to perform, Keast said.

He said the building would also provide a great networking tool for his students to work side-by-side professionals.

"The synergy between UTPB and the symphony will be a big benefit," Keast said.

SCIENCE AND TECH UPDATE

That's not the only project UTPB has on their plate - there's a full menu.

The $50 million, 120,000 square-foot Science and Technology Building is well underway.

The sight still looks like a construction pad months after breaking ground, but Watts said it takes a long time to enter everything into the ground.

"We are still hopeful for substantial completion in August 2010," Wayland said, even though he said the project is a little behind.

MORE PROJECTS ON THE WAY

Wayland spent an entire day last week in meetings with architects from El Paso and Dallas discussing yet another project on UTPB's plate - a $12 million Multi-Purpose Building.

Groundbreaking is scheduled March 17, and the building is projected to be complete the same time as the Science and Technology building in August 2010.

"It has a fantastic design," Watts said of the student center.

A modern food court seating 200-plus students, a workout facility and a childcare center are just a few items in the plans.

Watts also said UTPB will be proposing more student housing in the future.

"We need more housing because we've had over 100 percent occupancy," he said of campus growth. "Housing will be essential."

Watts said his campus was moving right along thanks to the help of tuition revenue bonds and state money.

"It will be a substantial addition," Watts said of UTPB's projects.

NEW UTPB STRUCTURES ON THE HORIZON

>> UTPB Wagner-Noel Performing Arts Center: $81 million.

>> Science and Technology Building: $50 million. 

>> Student Multi-Purpose Center: $12 million.

WHO MADE IT HAPPEN

>> The university, private gift donations from both Odessa and Midland and state money made the $81 million project possible, Wayland said.

>> Chairman of the performing arts center advisory committee Grant Billingsley said he was appointed chairman in the summer of July 2006 to advise a committee made up of almost equal parts of Odessans and Midlanders.