Over the past couple of years, the University of Texas at Dallas has been slowly enhancing various parts of their campus due to money received by public and private donors.

The university has received $45 million for what is known as the “Campus Landscape Enhancement Project,” a project aimed at improving the outdated buildings of the 1960s and 1970s on UT Dallas’ campus.

The first phase of the project was completed in 2010 and cost $30 million. This phase was focused on the center of the UT Dallas campus to the south end and the Campbell Road entrance.

Thirty-three needlepoint holly hedgerows were planted, according to the Enhancement Facts website, each at 120 feet long. They will grow to be 5 feet wide.

In addition to the hedgerows, 78 live oaks native to Texas will form the school’s new horseshoe entrance.

The first phase was all about welcoming visitors to UT Dallas, but the second phase was a bit different. More focused on landscapes and the environment, the $15 million renovation began in 2013 and was dedicated to making the north end of campus more like a park.

This phase added more lawn terraces, elm groves and green space to the campus. The phase was completed in 2015.

Peter Walker of Peter Walker and Partners (PWP) suggested the $45 million price tag. UT Dallas was certainly not his first project.

PWP has won numerous design competitions, awards and honors. His work spans from the World Trade Center Memorial in New York to the Library Walk at the University of California and even to China.

Their plan for the school included reforesting with the use of more than 5,000 trees, as well as other special project features.

Over 150,000 hours of labor went into the project as of 2016. More building and construction is envisioned for the campus’ future.

Other facts about the Campus Enhancement Project include (all from the Enhancement Facts website):

• Approximately 14,000 square feet of Chinese granite was hand-placed in the linear pools.
• The landscape architect specified the location of each individual tree.
• Trees bordering University Parkway are grouped into distinct species representing the stands of trees found in the ranch lands of North Texas.
• The circular pool’s fog system is designed to run at 3.7 gallons per minute. On calm days, fog can crawl as high as 200 feet from the column.
• The plaza’s square plinth and redesigned bleachers are made from sustainably grown, harvested, transported, dried and milled Ipe wood from Central America.