On November 20, the Campus Enhancement Project broke ground at UT Dallas. The project, with a budget of $10 million, is funded from a generous gift from Mrs. Margaret McDermott, wife of the late Eugene McDermott, who, along with the late Cecil Green and Erik Jonsson, founded the research institution that is now UT Dallas.

The goal of the project is to make the campus more attractive and more pedestrian-friendly. With the help of architectural firm Peter Walker and Partners (PWP), whose portfolio includes the gardens of Dallas’ Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas and the World Trade Center Memorial in New York, the Campus Enhancement Project is set to be completed by late fall 2009. Divided into four phases, the project will begin with the campus perimeter and entrance roads, as well as the central plaza between the Student Union and McDermott Library.

Other phases of the project include:

• The planting of 5,000 to 6,000 native trees, particularly at the main entrance and exterior portions of campus.
• A new roundabout drive that will be installed near the intersections of University Parkway and Drive A.
• A small amphitheater and stage constructed near the existing steps in front of the Student Union. The steps will be covered with weather-resistant wood that will double as seating.
• A greenery-lined waterway that will run from the School of Management Building to the Eugene McDermott Library.