Union Building (University of Texas at Austin)

Last updated
Union Building
Texas Union.JPG
Union Building (University of Texas at Austin)
Alternative namesTexas Union Building, Student Union Building
General information
Town or cityAustin, Texas
CountryUnited States

The Union Building (also known the Texas Union Building or Student Union Building) [1] [2] is a building on the University of Texas at Austin campus, serving as a "college independent community center" or "living room" for students. [3] [4] Designed by Paul Cret, who also designed the Tower and Main Building, Goldsmith Hall and Texas Memorial Museum on the same campus, the Union was built in 1933 with funds provided by Texas Exes in a campaign led by Thomas Watt Gregory. [4]

Contents

Once constructed, the Union was one of four buildings on campus intended for recreation and entertainment, the other three being Gregory Gymnasium for Men, the Women's Gymnasium and Hogg Memorial Auditorium. [5] The building hosts a bowling alley and formal ballroom. [6]

History

In March 1930, Paul Cret was contracted to become the consulting architect for the University of Texas, followed by a second contact in June 1931 to design ten new buildings. [7]

Construction

The Union Building was constructed from smooth limestone and ashlar fossiliferous limestone. [8] The building is staggered and asymmetrical, as opposed to "classically balanced" like Battle Hall, another building Cret designed for the campus. [9]

Cactus Café

The Cactus Café [10] [11] is a music venue and gathering place for students located in the Union Building, originally known as the Chuck Wagon when it opened in 1933. [12] In January 2010, the university announced plans to close the Cactus, claiming that closing the venue would save the university $66,000 in its $2 billion annual budget. [1] [2] Concerned supporters formed the non-profit organization Friends of the Cactus Café with the purpose of raising funds to preserve the historic venue. [1] An arrangement was eventually made to keep the venue open under the auspices and management of PBS radio station KUT. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

University of Texas at Austin Public university in Austin, Texas

TheUniversity of Texas at Austin is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 graduate students and 3,133 teaching faculty as of Fall 2021, it is also the largest institution in the system.

Frank Erwin Center Arena in Texas, United States

The Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center is an inactive multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. It is also sometimes referred to as "The Drum" or "The Superdrum", owing to its round, drum-like appearance from outside.

Paul Philippe Cret French-American architect and industrial designer

Paul Philippe Cret was a French-born Philadelphia architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he taught a design studio in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.

KVRX Student radio station at the University of Texas at Austin

KVRX is the student radio station at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, with an effective radiated power of 3,000 watts. Licensed to The University of Texas, KVRX shares the 91.7 frequency with KOOP, broadcasting from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, with KOOP, operated by Austin Co-op Radio, broadcasting during the remaining hours. KVRX's studios are at the Hearst Student Media Building on campus, and its transmitter is located in East Austin.

Littlefield Fountain Fountain and sculpture in Austin, Texas, U.S.

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.

Main Building (University of Texas at Austin)

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.

KUT Public radio station at the University of Texas at Austin

KUT is a listener-supported and corporate-sponsored public radio station based in Austin, Texas. KUT is owned and operated by faculty and staff of the University of Texas at Austin. It is the National Public Radio member station for central Texas. Its studio operations are located on campus at the Belo Center for New Media. KUT is one of three radio outlets based on UT campus alongside student-run KVRX 91.7 FM and KUTX 98.9 FM.

Drag (Austin, Texas) Street in Austin, Texas

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.

Moody College of Communication American communication college at the University of Texas at Austin

The Moody College of Communication is the communication college at The University of Texas at Austin. The college is home to top-ranked programs in advertising and public relations, communication studies, communication sciences and disorders, journalism, and radio-television-film. The Moody College is nationally recognized for its faculty members, research and student media. It offers seven undergraduate degrees, including those in Journalism, Advertising, and Radio-Television-Film, and 17 graduate programs. The Moody College of Communication operates out of the Jesse H. Jones Communication Complex and the Dealey Center for New Media, which opened in November 2012. The college has a $106 million endowment as of April 14, 2016.

Battle Hall United States historic place

Battle Hall, also known as the "Cass Gilbert Building" and "The Old Library," is a historic library on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. It is one of four buildings on campus that have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The others are the Littlefield House, University Junior High School and Little Campus.

University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture

The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture (UTSOA) is a college within The University of Texas at Austin, with its major facilities located on the main university campus in Austin, Texas. UTSOA's dean is Michelle Addington. In 2016, the school's former dean, Frederick "Fritz" Steiner, stepped down citing Texas Government Code Section 411.2031, also known as "Campus Carry," which entitles licensed individuals to carry concealed handguns onto the campus of an institution of higher education.

KUTX Radio station in Austin, Texas

KUTX is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Leander, Texas and serving the greater Austin, Texas area with an Adult album alternative format. The station is owned by University of Texas at Austin with headquarters at the Belo Center for New Media (A0704) on the University of Texas at Austin campus.

South Congress Neighborhood in Austin, Texas, United States

South Congress is a neighborhood located on South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, United States. It is also a nationally known shopping and cultural district known for its many eclectic small retailers, restaurants, music and art venues and, more recently, food trucks.

Dove Springs, Austin, Texas Neighborhood in Austin, Texas, US

Dove Springs, nicknamed the "44" after the area ZIP Codes, is a neighborhood in Austin, Texas.

Cactus Cafe Live music venue at the University of Texas at Austin

The Cactus Café is a live music venue and bar on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin. Located in Austin, Texas, a city frequently referred to as "the live music capital of the world," a number of well-known artists have played in the Cactus, and Billboard Magazine named it as one of fifteen "solidly respected, savvy clubs" in the United States, "from which careers can be cut, that work with proven names and new faces."

Activities and Recreation Center (UIUC)

The Activities and Recreation Center, more commonly known as the ARC, is an athletic facility at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for current university students, members and guests. According to the university, Activities and Recreation Center is "one of the country's largest on-campus recreation centers".

Calhoun Hall Building on the University of Texas at Austin campus

Calhoun Hall is a building located on the University of Texas at Austin campus, built in 1968. The building is named after John William Calhoun, a mathematics professor, university comptroller from 1925 to 1937, and university president from 1937 to 1939.

Goldsmith Hall

Goldsmith Hall is a building on the University of Texas at Austin campus, serving as the primary home of the School of Architecture. It was designed by Paul Cret, who also designed the Main Building, the Union Building, and the Texas Memorial Museum on the same campus.

Woodrow Wilson is a sculpture depicting the American president of the same name by Pompeo Coppini. The sculpture was commissioned in 1919 by George W. Littlefield to be included in the Littlefield Fountain on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It was installed on the university's South Mall in Austin, Texas from 1933 until its removal in 2015.

University Junior High School Historic structure in Austin, Texas

University Junior High School is a historic former secondary school on the University of Texas at Austin campus in Austin, Texas. Opened in 1933 as a joint project between the university and the Austin Independent School District, the school served both as a public junior high school and as a laboratory school for the university's Department of Education until 1967, when the school was closed and the facility turned over to UT. Today, the building houses the university's School of Social Work and its Child Care Center. The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bernier, Nathan (December 30, 2010). "Our Top 5 News Stories Of 2010". KUT . Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Brick, Michael (February 5, 2010). "A 'Live Music Capital' Is Hearing Less Music These Days". The New York Times . Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Union Building – UNB". University of Texas. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Info (TXU)". University of Texas. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Recreation for 10,000 Students at Texas Union". The Victoria Advocate . Victoria, Texas. October 20, 1939. p. 2.
  6. ↑ "Walking Tours: Strolling the University of Texas". Frommer's . Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  7. ↑ Holland 2006 , p. 133
  8. ↑ Holland 2006 , p. 135
  9. ↑ Jenkins, Mary (November–December 1982). "The Evolution of a Face". The Alcalde . Emmis Communications. 71 (2): 19–20. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  10. ↑ Cactus Café & Bar - The Music Venue
  11. ↑ UT web site for Cactus Café and Bar
  12. ↑ Rossie, Cam; Hylton, Hilary (2009). Insiders' Guide to Austin. Globe Pequot. p. 127. ISBN   9780762755684 . Retrieved March 25, 2011.
Works cited

Coordinates: 30°17′12″N97°44′28″W / 30.2867°N 97.7411°W / 30.2867; -97.7411

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.