This is great news for our Soldiers and our community! - Jean

A&M, Army agree to land deal

By Rebecca LaFlure
Killeen Daily Herald

Representatives from the Texas A&M University System and the U.S. Army signed an agreement to transfer 672 acres from Fort Hood to the Texas A&M System during a special ceremony Thursday morning at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The land will house the future Texas A&M University-Central Texas campus in Killeen. The transfer marked a major step in Tarleton State University-Central Texas' transition to an independent A&M System campus, and gives both the university and community license to start developing a campus master plan, said John Crutchfield, president of the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce.

Crutchfield dubbed the future campus as the second-largest economic development to occur in the region, behind only the establishment of Fort Hood.

"Whether or not the university is going to be built is kind of resolved now because the land has changed hands. That's a very symbolic and substantial thing to have happened," Crutchfield said Thursday.

U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, representing the Fort Hood area, and U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, representing the Texas A&M campus area, joined Secretary of the Army Pete Geren and Texas A&M Chancellor Mike McKinney for the official land transfer.

"This Army-A&M partnership will mean Fort Hood soldiers, their families and students throughout Central Texas will have access to a first-class, affordable university education," Edwards said in a statement Thursday. "That is good news for Fort Hood soldiers, for economic development in Central Texas and for Texas A&M. With the new GI bill, the demand for higher education among troops will be tremendous."

Since 2005, multiple discussions have taken place between the Army and Texas A&M System officials about what A&M will provide in exchange for the Fort Hood land – cash, services or both.

Located at the intersection of state highways 195 and 201 in Killeen, the land was valued at $1.74 million.

Based on the agreement, the Texas A&M System will allow the Army to use between 10,000 and 15,000 square feet of class space over a 17-year period.

No money will be exchanged.

"We are very pleased that the Army has completed the transfer of its land to the A&M System. This is a plan that the community has been working on for many years and is another step in helping us function as an independent campus," Tarleton-Central Texas executive director Garry Ross said Thursday.

Also on Thursday, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board certified Tarleton's enrollment at 1,204 full-time students.

The university was required to exceed an enrollment of 1,000 full-time students in order to reach independent status. An official name change is expected to occur at the A&M System board of regents meeting scheduled for May 21 and 22.

If all goes as planned, construction of a Texas A&M-Central Texas campus will begin in 2010, and a general-purpose building will be available for student use the following year, Ross said.

"Eventually, we plan to have adequate facilities to serve 25,000 students," Ross said. "As we can get money from the Legislature and establish need, we'll just keep adding until we reach the capacity we need to serve that many students."

Based on a 2006 economic impact study conducted by the GKCC, enrollment of 2,500 full-time students at Texas A&M-Central Texas would have an annual economic impact of $37 million in the area.

It would create an estimated 677 new jobs, both directly and indirectly. With an enrollment of 6,500 full-time students, the economic impact would increase to $106 million a year, and an estimated 2,000 jobs would be created.