More shady spots and more dining options – take a look at what changed on campus over the summer
Updates to the exterior of the Global Center include a new shade structure.
A wheelchair-accessible pathway now connects the President's Pond to the nearby service road. (Photo by Chris Richards/University Communications)
Café Bolo in the Health Sciences Innovation Building offers catering and grab-and-go meals.
If you were away from campus this summer, you have some catching up to do when it comes to physical changes around the University. Recent projects include a new place for shade in the Student Success District, renovations at the Global Center and President's Pond, new and reopened restaurant options and more. Find details below of projects that progressed or wrapped up during the (very) hot summer months.
Building and renovation projects
- A new solar canopy has been installed in the Student Success District, at the corner of East Fourth Street and North Highland Avenue. The canopy – a joint effort between the University and Tucson Electric Power – will eventually produce 29 kilowatts of power at any one time, if conditions are favorable. That is enough energy to power three or four homes.
- Renovations to the main lobby, the second-floor food court and the courtyard in the Global Center – on North Park Avenue south of East Fourth Street – continued. Other changes include updated exterior landscaping, a new shade structure and new signage. Arizona International services and first-floor food outlets have reopened, including Core+, Global Market, Saffron Bites, Starbucks and Nrich Urban Market Express. The upstairs food court, featuring Más Tacos, Sichuan Kitchen and The Den, will reopen as renovations are completed over the next two weeks.
- Work continued on the Grand Challenges Research Building on North Cherry Avenue between East University Boulevard and East Fourth Street and the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine on North Cherry Avenue near East Mabel Street. The Weil Center is scheduled to be completed in early 2024, with the Grand Challenges Research Building set to be finished in the spring.
- Two projects moved forward in the University's arts district. Renovations to Marroney Theatre at 1025 N. Olive Road, which will include a refashioned lobby, new seating and a digital laser projector, are set to be completed in the fall. Also, construction began on Arts Alley, which will include site improvements around the Art Building and Art Museum, Marroney Theatre and Tornabene Theatre, extending to North Olive Road. The project, designed to improve pedestrian flow and wayfinding among the facilities, is scheduled to be completed in the winter.
- The President's Pond, also known as the Turtle Pond, underwent renovations that included the addition of a brick-lined plaza, a wheelchair-accessible pathway and a spillway to catch the occasional pond overflow. (Read more about the pond's history and upgrades in this Lo Que Pasa article.)
- Café Bolo has opened on the first floor of the Health Sciences Innovation Building. The restaurant offers regional, seasonally inspired dishes from Wolfgang Puck Catering. (Read more about Café Bolo in an article on the University of Arizona Health Sciences website.)
Parking projects
- Six lots were repaved and restriped:
- #1016 (East Helen Street near the College of Law Building)
- #2171 (Ring Road)
- #2235 on (Ring Road)
- #3113 (corner of East Speedway Boulevard and North Mountain Avenue)
- #4059(corner of East Second Street and North Cherry Avenue)
- #5075 (east of Centennial Hall)
- All 10 campus parking garages had structural preventive maintenance performed.
- The University's Park & Ride program added a new parking location and annual permit option for employees. The lot is located at the University of Arizona Tech Park at the Bridges, 1600 E. Idea Lane. Park & Ride lots, located around Tucson, give employees a place to park their personal vehicles and ride one of the University's CatTran shuttles to main campus.
- Parking & Transportation Services moved its transit operations from an off-campus location at 315 S. Plumer Ave. to a University-owned building at the corner of North Fremont Avenue and East Sixth Street. CatTran shuttles will be parked in the new location.
Information on lot and garage locations is available on the 2023-24 parking map and the UArrive interactive map.
Find details, images and live video of many of the largest construction projects on campus on the Planning, Design and Construction project page.