Blinn Board of Trustees takes first step toward a new Bryan Campus administration building

Trustees also authorize the College to negotiate the sale of property on Leonard Road in Bryan and receive a preliminary fall enrollment report

September 22, 2021

The Blinn College District Board of Trustees authorized the College to seek architectural services related to a new Bryan Campus administration building and to negotiate the sale of 95 acres at Leonard Road and F.M. 2818 to the Bryan Independent School District.

The board also received a preliminary report from Dr. Becky McBride, Vice Chancellor for Student Services, regarding fall enrollment.

The administration building is part of Blinn’s district wide facilities master plan available at www.blinn.edu/master-plan. Approved by the board in May 2021, this document proposes an approximately 45,000-square-foot facility that could house the student services currently offered at the Central Administrative Services Building located off campus on Texas Avenue in the Tejas Center.

The new administration building would be located at the site of the former Rivergate Church property on the north side of campus. The preliminary schedule projects that the facility could be completed in fall 2023.

In other action, the board authorized the College to negotiate the sale of its Leonard Road property to the Bryan ISD. Blinn purchased the site in 2015 for the purpose of developing a second Brazos County campus. Those plans changed when The Texas A&M University System invited Blinn to participate in the RELLIS Academic Alliance on the RELLIS Campus. Blinn opened campus operations at RELLIS in fall 2018.

“The sale of this property provides a win-win situation for Blinn College and the Bryan ISD and represents just one more example of the strong partnership between Blinn and the Bryan ISD benefiting Brazos County students,” said Dr. Mary Hensley, Chancellor of the Blinn College District.

“Bryan ISD appreciates the strong relationship we have with Blinn College, and all of the work that went into making this sale possible,” said Bryan ISD Superintendent Dr. Christie Whitbeck. “This is a win for the entire community, as Bryan ISD plans to build a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing new transportation and maintenance facility on this property, bringing jobs and opportunity to this growing area of Bryan while leaving land for the future needs of the school district.”

In McBride’s presentation regarding preliminary fall enrollment figures, she reported that registration exceeded the College’s expectations, with 16,831 students registered for the fall semester. Districtwide enrollment dipped 5.2% compared to fall 2020, while contact hours declined 5.4%.

Blinn registered 6,142 students on the Bryan Campus, 4,258 in online classes, 2,751 on the RELLIS Campus, 1,823 on the Brenham Campus, 1,593 in high school dual credit, 68 on the Schulenburg Campus, and 38 at the Sealy Campus.

Registration remains open for Blinn’s 12-week and second 4-week classes, which begin Monday, Sept. 27; second 8-week and third 4-week courses that begin Monday, Oct. 25; and fourth 4-week classes that begin Thursday, Nov. 18. Registration and course information is available at www.blinn.edu/fall.

In other business, the board authorized the College to:

• seek qualifications for engineering services related to a College Avenue street and sidewalk realignment project on the Brenham Campus;
• award a guaranteed maximum price for repairs to the Old Main Building on the Brenham Campus;
• seek proposals for furniture, fixtures, and equipment for the Old Main Building;
• seek qualifications for engineering services related to a chiller replacement and building automation upgrades on the Bryan Campus;
• and negotiate and execute agreements related to the transfer of the real property encompassing the Star of the Museum along with all improvements, buildings, and fixtures to the Texas Historical Commission.