Devon Crew

Swedish-based company Skanska was awarded a $100 million on Nov. 13, 2023 to construct a new STEM building starting June 2024.

The new building, which will house the mathematics and computer science departments, will be located on the west side of the San Marcos campus, west of Bruce and Gloria Ingram Hall and southwest of the Supple Science Building.

“The new building will be an eight-story… 155,900 square-foot structure that will provide teaching space, class labs, departmental offices and research labs for several other academic disciplines,” Skanska’s Nov. 13 press release said.

With the increase in record-breaking student population in recent years, the math and computer science departments have seen an increased need in class spaces and faculty offices, shortcomings the new building will address.

“We [have] a program for buildings this large to make sure that we are going to accommodate everyone,” Gordon Bohmfalk, Texas State University’s architect and the director of Facilities Planning, Design and Construction said. “We want to build to the program.”

The university’s 2025-35 Master Plan, which is still in development and will serve as a framework for future projects on campus, will decide what will happen to Derrick Hall and the Math and Computer Science Building.

“I think that we will definitely be looking at the demolition of part of Derrick, the part that’s in The Quad,” Bohmfalk said.

Derrick Hall currently houses the Department of Aerospace Studies and the Center for International Studies, as well as many of the math and computer science classrooms.

Crystal Ukandu, a mechanical engineering sophomore, believes the new classrooms and labs will help improve the STEM program, but also expressed her desire for other spaces in the building that could be used for academic services like tutoring.

“I think [the new building] is a really great idea,” Ukandu said. “To be able to expand our resources and learning spaces for students is very important.”

The new building is still in the early design stages. Bohmfalk said designs should be released in the coming months, but the university must first get the design and plan approved by the Texas State University Systems (TSUS) office.

“We’re expected to go [to the TSUS office] in February 2024, so that would be a good time to see exactly what we are planning,” Bohmfalk said.

The current plan is for the building to begin construction in June 2024 and open in fall 2026.