More collaboration with the city:

City of Arlington accepting bids for Center Street Project until Tuesday

Arlington is accepting bids until next week for a $2.2 million public plaza and landscape improvements project near the special events center.

The Public Works and Transportation department will stop accepting bids for the UTA Center Street Project at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Work assigned to the project includes adding a public plaza located at the corner of Center and Mesquite Streets near the special events center, said Alicia Winkelblech, Arlington’s transportation planning manager.

The city council will review each bid and award the contract to the contractor who meets all the requirements.

The public plaza will add storm sewers, open space, sidewalks, gardens, park furnishings and area lighting.

North Central Texas Council of Governments will fund the multimillion-dollar project and construction is expected to begin this spring.

The project’s construction is integrated with the construction of the special events center, said university spokeswoman Kristin Sullivan.

Sullivan said the Center Street project is a collaboration project between the university and the city and it will complement the university’s special events center.

“There isn’t any open green space around the campus,” she said. “The overall purpose of this is to create a place where people can easily walk to without having to leave the campus.”

Like the special events center, the Center Street project is integrated into the city and university’s master plan to create a college town environment in downtown Arlington, she said.

The Center Street project was designed by Arlington landscaping company Schrickel, Rollins and Associates. The company also helped to restore UTA’s Trading House Creek, which runs along the southwest edge of the campus.

According to Arlington’s graduate engineer Daniel Burnham, the contractor must comply with Leadership in Energy and Environment Design requirements. Also known as LEED.

LEED’s environmental rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, said Mike Opitz, LEED resource development vice president.

Opitz said the system is used as a benchmark for design, construction and operation of environmentally safe buildings.

The ratings measure water and energy efficiency, materials used during construction, and design innovation.

Good news! That park is going to be a real nice feature for the SE corner of campus. I guess that's where we get the name "College Park" for the mixed-use structure.

I once was a proponent of the South 40 location for the SEC. But, the genius of the current placement is now apparent to me. For one thing, there is no way we would have excited the City to participate at that location. As is, the City is putting in millions for the park and surrounding trail (through grants that only they can get as a municipality) and putting in $18 million in the garage. I didn't foresee this kind of partnership to create something attractive and the development of College Town. And, now I can see the synergy of putting all these pieces together...the placement and how they interact with their surroundings is really great. I can't wait until all this is finished. It is going to change the perception of the University. To use the current jargon, it is "place making."