Dobie Center, named after J. Frank Dobie, is a formerly privately-owned 27-story residence hall located on the University of Texas at Austin campus. On October 12, 2021, the University of Texas announced it was purchasing the center to provide additional school-owned housing near campus for its students. [1] In addition to being a residence for students, Dobie contains a two-story mall, restaurants, and specialty stores. [2]
The property features a pool, fitness center, two sport courts, six elevators, and an industrial-styled cafeteria.
The building was designed by J. & G. Daverman and Associates in 1972. Upon its completion, Dobie Center was the tallest building in Austin, surpassing the Texas State Capitol, which had held the title for nearly 90 years. Dobie was the first modernist building to exist on UT's campus.
The building underwent a US$10 million facelift in 1990 to replace its then brick façade by exposing the glass underneath. [3] When classes began in the Fall 1989 semester, would-be residents of Dobie Center were temporarily relocated to the Radisson Plaza Hotel. [4]
On November 11, 2006, a fire, started by an improperly extinguished cigarette, [5] broke out on the pool deck of Dobie Center causing an estimated $600,000 worth of damage. The pool deck reopened in late April 2008. The fire was contained to an area outside of the residential tower. This structure was an old wooden deck that has been replaced by a concrete structure.
The Dobie Mall was completely remodeled by the Nix Group in the '90s and is now a hub of student activity and shopping. [6] The mall is a two-story shopping and food center featuring a food court, stores, and even a chapel. The food court today features seating for 500 and various assorted independently run food outlets.
In 2014 the Dobie Center became managed by Campus Evolution Villages, marking the start of over $4 million in renovations, including new hardwood floors, a cafeteria face-lift, and an updated movie and game room. However, there was controversy during this time due to allegations made by many students that Campus Evolution Villages did not uphold their end of a bargain. [7]
In October 2021, the University of Texas at Austin purchased Dobie Center. [1]
The Dobie Center offers monthly resident events ranging from floor events to dorm-wide events, such as book club.[ citation needed ]
Additionally, The University of Texas's campus and covered parking garage are draws for students looking for convenience. Dobie had been historically known for having recurring elevator problems, with many students having been trapped in elevators for multiple hours;[ citation needed ] however, management recently[ when? ] took a major crack on the problem by replacing one of its three decade-old elevators.[ citation needed ]
There is a resident assistant on every few floors at Dobie. Dobie is also known for being able to accommodate international exchange students who are looking for a short-term stay due to its low occupancy rate.[ citation needed ]
Michael Dell, founder of Dell, lived in room 2713 of Dobie Center. [8]
2016 presidential candidate and former governor of Florida Jeb Bush lived in Dobie Center. [9]
Daniel Johnston, outsider singer-songwriter and artist, worked at a now-closed McDonalds in Dobie Mall, located in Dobie Center. He would, reportedly, hand out tapes of his album Hi, How Are You to people while working. [10]
Some of the stores and restaurants inside Dobie Center include:
The University of Texas at Austin is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 52,384 students as of Fall 2022, it is also the largest institution in the system.
The University of Texas at Dallas is a public research university in Richardson, Texas. It is the northernmost institution of the University of Texas System. It was initially founded in 1961 as a private research arm of Texas Instruments.
The Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center was a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. It was also sometimes referred to as "The Drum" or "The Superdrum", owing to its round, drum-like appearance from outside.
The McCombs School of Business is a business school at The University of Texas at Austin, a public research university in Austin, Texas. In addition to the main campus in Downtown Austin, McCombs offers classes outside Central Texas in Dallas, and Houston. The McCombs School of Business offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs for their average 13,000 students each year, adding to its 98,648 member alumni base from a variety of business fields. In addition to traditional classroom degree programs, McCombs is home to 14 collaborative research centers, the international business plan competition: Venture Labs Investment Competition, and executive education programs.
The J. J. Pickle Research Campus (PRC) in Austin, Texas, United States is owned and operated by the University of Texas at Austin. It sits on 475 acres (1.9 km2) in northwest Austin, approximately 9 miles (14 km) north of the main UT campus and just south of the Domain.
Jester Center or Jester Center Residence Halls is a co-educational residence hall at The University of Texas at Austin, built in 1969. The residence hall was named after Beauford H. Jester, who served as the Governor of Texas from 1947 until 1949.
The University of Texas at Austin was originally conceived in 1827 under an article in the Constitución de Coahuila y Texas to open a public university in the state of Texas. The Constitution of 1876 also called for the creation of a "university of the first class." Thus, they created "The University of Texas." Since the school's opening in 1883, the University of Texas has expanded greatly with the Austin institution remaining the flagship university of the University of Texas System. By the late 1990s, the University had the largest enrollment in the country and contained many of the country's top programs in the areas of law, architecture, film, engineering, and business.
Littlefield Fountain is a World War I memorial monument designed by Italian-born sculptor Pompeo Coppini on the main campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas, at the entrance to the university's South Mall. Completed in 1933, the monument is named after university regent and benefactor George W. Littlefield, whose donation paid for its design and construction.
The Main Building is a structure at the center of the University of Texas at Austin campus in Downtown Austin, Texas, United States. The Main Building's 307-foot (94 m) tower has 27 floors and is one of the most recognizable symbols of the university and the city.
Towson Town Center is a large indoor shopping mall located in Towson, Maryland. It was the largest indoor shopping mall in Maryland prior to the completion of Arundel Mills in late 2000 in Hanover and the 2007 expansion of Westfield Annapolis.
The Perry–Castañeda Library (PCL) is the main central library of the University of Texas at Austin library system in Austin, Texas. PCL is located at 21st Street and Speedway in Austin, TX.
The Scottish Rite Dormitory (SRD) is a private women's dorm for the University of Texas built and operated by the Scottish rite of Freemasons in Austin, Texas. Located just north of campus on 27th Street and Whitis Avenue, the colonial revival style building was completed in 1922 during a housing shortage on campus and was intended to provide housing for the daughters and relatives of Master Masons.
J. Frank Dobie High School is a public secondary school located in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1968, it is named after the Texas writer of the same name. It houses grades 10-12. A Ninth Grade Center was opened recently to help with the influx of students. It is the largest school in the Pasadena Independent School District. The school mascots are the Longhorns and the official colors are orange and black, similar to that of the University of Texas at Austin.
The Drag is a nickname for a portion of Guadalupe Street that runs along the western edge of the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
Highland Mall was a shopping mall located in north Austin, Texas, United States, on Airport Boulevard west of I-35 and north of US Route 290. Opened in 1971, Highland Mall was Austin's first suburban shopping mall. Highland Mall was jointly owned by General Growth and Simon Property Group until 2011. On April 29, 2015, Highland Mall officially closed its doors; the space has since been repurposed primarily as a campus for Austin Community College.
Housing at Georgetown University consists of 13 residence halls at the main campus and a law center campus. Housing on Georgetown's main campus is divided between "halls," usually more traditional dormitories, and "villages", usually less traditional apartment complexes. In addition, Georgetown operates many townhouses in the Georgetown neighborhood, usually for second, third, and fourth-year students.
Sutton Hall, originally called The Education Building, is a building on the University of Texas at Austin campus, serving as one of the four buildings supporting the School of Architecture, the others being Battle Hall, West Mall Building, and Goldsmith Hall. It was designed by Cass Gilbert, who also designed Battle Hall, the architecture library on the same campus. Originally, Sutton Hall housed the College of Education.
The Dell Medical School is the graduate medical school of The University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. The school opened to the inaugural class of 50 students in the summer of 2016 as the newest of 18 colleges and schools on the UT Austin campus. S. Claiborne "Clay" Johnston was named as the medical school's inaugural dean in January 2014. On September 1, 2021, Johnston stepped down from his position and George Macones was named interim dean. Claudia Lucchinetti,M.D. was announced as the new dean and began her term on December 1, 2022.
The University of Texas tower shooting was an act of mass murder which occurred on August 1, 1966, at the University of Texas at Austin. The perpetrator, 25-year-old Marine veteran Charles Whitman, indiscriminately fired at members of the public both within the Main Building tower and from the tower's observation deck. He shot and killed 15 people, including an unborn child, and injured 31 others before he was killed by two Austin Police Department officers approximately 96 minutes after first opening fire from the observation deck.