Construction of the Avery Building and St. David's Nursing School
After the Avery family donated 101 acres of land, the center began constructing its first permanent building. The RRHEC relocated 25 minutes from its original site to the new property. The property was located at County Road 114 east of Interstate 35.
The plan called for a three-story, 117,000-square-foot facility designed to house classrooms, laboratories, and office space. The building would include 40 classrooms, 8 computer labs, interactive video (ITV) rooms, a 112-seat lecture hall, a 90-seat lecture hall/event center, a student lounge, a library, a counseling center, a university police station, faculty and administrative offices, student support services, and a Small Business Development Center.
Round Rock Higher Education Center Groundbreaking
The ground was broken on March 22nd, 2004, and construction began on May 10. TXST also received a $198,820 donation from the U.S. Department of Education to purchase equipment for the RRHEC. The building was officially opened on May 19th, 2006. The Avery Building hosted courses for ACC and TXST students.
St. David's Nursing School
Sketch of the Avery Building and the future St. David's School of Nursing.
Image Source: Texas State University Update
As Texas State's plan to start a nursing program developed, they received a donation of $6 million from St. David's Community Health Foundation to fund a nursing school at the Round Rock Higher Education Center (RRHEC) in 2006. Because of this donation, former Texas State President Denise M. Trauth decided to name the school the St. David's School of Nursing in their honor.
In 2008, the nursing program was established, with the $6 million donation, to hire faculty, purchase laboratory equipment, and cover other essential school expenses. This helped quickly start the development of the curriculum to meet critical workforce need in health care. After the first steps, Texas State hired contractors Broaddus & Associates, who developed a building plan for the new nursing school at the RRHEC. Their design included four floors with lecture halls, classrooms, offices, advanced laboratories, exam rooms, and other support facilities. Construction began in January 2009, and the building opened in 2010.