The Austin Community College District Board of Trustees unanimously named the district’s future Leander campus the ACC San Gabriel Campus during its regular meeting Monday, April 4.
“This campus will be a vital part of the City of Leander,” says Bridget Brandt, Leander Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center president and CEO and member of the Leander Campus Advisory Committee (CAC). “Water is the most versatile of any element. My hope is the name sake of this campus will contribute those same fundamental properties to the students who choose this campus. It’s important that the name reflects the entire community, and our aspirations to it.”
Courtesy: SmithGroupJJR, Design Architects, in collaboration with Pfluger Architects
The CAC, made up of 13 area educator and business leaders, unanimously recommended the campus name based on the campus’s geographical location within the city. The 100-acre site sits a few miles south of the San Gabriel River, along San Gabriel Pkwy. between Hwy. 183A and Mel Mathis Blvd.
“This campus is a critical piece of our mission at ACC,” says Allen Kaplan, vice chair of the Board of Trustees. “We are a regional district. Our boundaries extend far beyond the Austin city limits. This is a commitment to expanding our reach.”
The college will host a ceremonial groundbreaking on site Thursday, April 21. The new campus, funded by the 2014 voter-approved bonds, is expected to open summer 2018 with a capacity to serve approximately 2,500 students.
“This has been a long-standing vision in the Leander community. The San Gabriel Campus affirms ACC’s commitment to increasing pathways to higher education across Central Texas,” says Dr. Vic Villarreal, chair of the ACC Board of Trustees. “It’s exciting to see it come to fruition.”
Courtesy: SmithGroupJJR, Design Architects, in collaboration with Pfluger Architects
Along with classrooms and science labs, the San Gabriel Campus will feature the college’s second ACCelerator learning lab. The innovative lab debuted at the Highland Campus in 2014 and is home to numerous competency-based programs including the college’s groundbreaking developmental math course, MATD 0421.
The community is invited to the groundbreaking ceremony. To RSVP, visit austincc.edu/Leander. For more information and to follow construction updates, visit austincc.edu/bond.
Tags: ACCelerator, Board of Trustees, bond, Campus Advisory Committee, groundbreaking, Leander Campus, San Gabriel Campus
Back to Top