Tarleton State University (TSU) of Stephenville, TX, is set to finish construction on a brand new state-of-the-art Animal and Plant Sciences Center facility by June 2019. This new building will give students in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (COAES) “incredible hands-on opportunities like the college has never seen before,” according to Dean of the college, Dr. Steve Damron.
The new facility will feature a complex made up of three buildings. The center building will be mostly lab space with six teaching/learning labs, two prep spaces for labs and an area for school farm products to be displayed. This display area will include retail products available for sale to the public, such as frozen meats processed in the meats lab and potted plants grown in the horticulture lab.
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“This retail area is a very important component to us,” Damron told WLJ, “because we can incorporate a retail class into the curriculum where students can manage the store and learn about displays and how to sell retail products.”
The remainder of the new building will consist of three animal science labs and three plant science labs. Nutrition, genetics and anatomy/physiology-specific labs, as well as horticulture and crop science, soils and entomology labs will be highlighted.
“This complex is giving us an opportunity to teach hands-on in an incredible way.”
Four greenhouses will be located adjacent to the retail space, with one greenhouse dedicated to retail purposes. Plants grown in the three production greenhouses will be available in the retail greenhouse for public sale. Some of the plants offered may include bedding plants in the spring and poinsettias during the holiday season.
An outdoor demonstration garden will have raised beds and teaching plots for students to learn about greenhouse management, ornamental and vegetable plant production, and pest control.
The complex will also include a 42,000-square-foot open-air livestock area. This area will be comprised of sorting pens, arenas, working chutes, and scales. Mostly ruminant animals will be handled in this area, as TSU already has separate swine and equine facilities, Damron explained.
“This livestock handling area will allow us to have state-of-the-art laboratories right next to the species of interest,” Damron said. “You will be able to easily walk from one building to the next.”
“Tarleton has a hands-on educational philosophy,” Damron said. “This complex is giving us an opportunity to teach hands-on in an incredible way. We feel like we will be able to give one of the best educations in the U.S. to our students.”
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The entirety of the construction project will cost a little over $11 million, Damron said.
In March 1986, a tornado came through Stephenville, damaging many COAES buildings severely or beyond repair. After assessing what could be repaired and tearing down buildings that could not be, the college realized there wasn’t enough money to rebuild the buildings as they were before, let alone modernize and upgrade.
“The governor recognized a truly unique need for funds,” Damron said. “Legislature appropriated $10 million to the cause, and the university and several other sources pitched in for additional funding.”
Concrete planning for the new agricultural complex did not begin until late 2017 and on-site work began in August 2018. The building is expected to be completed by June 2019, and classes will be held in the new facility in the upcoming fall.
“Tarleton is a bit unique from other schools in that many FFA contests are held on campus,” Damron explained. “There are a lot of high school students on campus throughout the year. Once the new center is in place, these students are going to attend contests in a state-of-the-art facility and really see what Tarleton has to offer.”
With the new potential offered by the complex, around 30 college courses have been redesigned in anticipation of new capabilities. Classes have been enhanced with the opportunity to do things that haven’t been possible before, Damron said. Not only have classes been reevaluated, but several new courses have been added in the offering as well.
Additional study options will be offered, including a track to help prepare students for graduate school. Due to increased demand, a new master’s degree and agricultural communications degree has also been added to the college.
“For the first time ever, the college has more than 2,000 students enrolled,” Damron said. “Not only do we already have the space and facilities to accommodate all of these students, but this new facility is bringing a lot of optimism all the way around.”
“It’s very exciting to be part of a place that has that kind of optimism and ‘can do’ spirit,” Damron added. “It attracts students who respond to that.”
Damron told WLJ that the college is actively pursuing additional projects and building plans that will be released in the future. — Anna Miller,WLJ correspondent
