UTA Retirees’ Club

Minutes for March 13, 2012

The UTA Retirees’ Club met on March 13, 2012, for a tour of the new College Park Center multipurpose events facility. A meet and greet in the lobby with coffee and donuts was enjoyed by all. There was a good turnout and we even ran out of name tags.

GENERAL

Josie O’Quinn, President, welcomed everyone and let people know that a new slate of officers would be presented at the next meeting. Anyone interested in a position should contact Josie or one of the other officers. The reminder post card lists last year’s officers but a current list as well as the duties of each are on the web page.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

On April 10th we will meet at the Fielder Museum for a tour by Arlington native Geraldine Mills of the Arlington Historical Society. There is plenty of on-site parking at the Fielder House on the corner of Abrams and Fielder. We will meet at the MAC for May and June. June will also be the dinner for the new retirees. Members will be contacted by e-mail, post card or phones so please let us know if you are not contacted.

Frank Gault announced that we did purchase two scholarship bricks at a reduced amount.

PROGRAM

Assistant director Keith Schobert was our tour guide. We were his first tour of the building which opened February 1, 2012. There were 22 events held in February. College Park Center is the home to UTA’s men’s and women’s basketball teams and women’s volleyball team. The first and lower floors of the 218,000 square foot facility present a 360 degree passage while the 2nd floor is in a horse shoe shape. 7,000 seats are available in the arena. Screens can be lowered to mask off the upper seats to create a warm environment for smaller events. A four-sided Daktronics video screen displays the action. There is also an end hung video board and 101 LG televisions throughout the events center. We viewed the practice courts as well as the hospitality suite which rents for about $350 a day. We got a behind the scenes look at the sports medicine center, locker rooms, gym, and academic center used by the student athletes. Assistant Volleyball Coach Erin Clute gave us a tour of the women’s volleyball locker room. Each of the three teams has their own locker room and the women’s is identical to the men’s. During the first year, the contractors/sub-contractors will be responsible for the maintenance of the building. Keith pointed out a wall that already had to be replaced due to a water leak. After the first year, the building will be maintained by UTA’s facilities building maintenance department. The special events center will host the graduation ceremonies for UTA academic colleges as well as area high schools. Keith ended our tour at 12: 30pm in time to host a second tour.

Submitted by Rosanne Minyard, secretary