Depending on when they graduated, Baylor alumni will give you a different profile of their time in Waco. From year to year, those differences might be as small as a better football record or a few new faculty, but when you compare Baylor of the 1970s to the campus we call home today, the two schools are vastly different.

Although no plans to upgrade or expand the intramural fields have been announced, Assistant Director of Competitive Sports Reid Jackson said that the current intramural space is constantly busy.

Beginning in February 2025 and lasting until 2029, My35 Waco South works on the three-mile stretch of I-35 between 12th Street and South Loop 340. Along this stretch, crews will widen I-35 to eight lanes, reconstruct overpasses and bridges and complete various other work on sidewalks and on-ramps and off-ramps. Also, at Valley Mills Drive, the project will add a novel intersection design, according to Jacob Smith, Waco TxDOT public information officer.

Though BSM has been housed in a single room in the Bobo Spiritual Life Center since the 1970s, the new facility on 4th Street and Daugherty Avenue will provide ample space for BSM’s staff and various ministries. The new building will be fitted with a 400-person capacity event room, offices for staff, a prayer room, a common area with ping-pong tables and a For Keeps coffee shop.

Announced to Baylor students via newsflash email in the evening of Sept. 15, the closures begin with a full shutdown of the eastbound 18th Street, which will reopen by 7 a.m. Friday, Sept. 19. Following the removal of the 18th Street bridge, the email said that westbound 17th Street will be closed from Sept. 21-24. The highway itself will remain open throughout the removal of the bridges, the email stated.

Since coming back to school, many have complained about I-35 construction. But road construction is also challenging drivers on La Salle, and the Waco Metropolitan Planning Organization has plans to bring the busy street back into shape — and keep pedestrians and drivers safe.

This year, even the construction on I-35 isn’t enough to stop alumni parents from traveling to see both their students and their alma mater for Family Weekend starting this Saturday.

According to Parallel’s application to the Waco Plan Commission, the complex will be 85 feet tall, and the inside will include amenities like a double-height lobby, a fitness center with a sauna, a market, an outdoor terrace and study areas. The application also lists some more unique fixings, like a “Sky Lounge” and an “influencer room.”

The project looks to build up the riverside between Mary and Waco Avenues by constructing parks and public spaces, building a new city hall, adding a sports entertainment district with a ballpark, creating a performing arts district and convention center and significantly improving overall walkability around the city.

David Bess, assistant vice president of planning and construction and university architect, said the construction includes two major parts — updated accommodations for the acrobatics and tumbling team and deferred maintenance for the entire building.

Described as “nostalgic” at best and “elderly” at worst, residents of Dawson and Allen often felt their residence hall was more like Grandma’s house than a college dorm. But after 60 years of housing Baylor students, Grandma’s place just got a $44 million facelift, and probably even a handful of organ transplants.

“We want to make sure everyone understands — give yourself a little bit of extra time [and] avail yourself of alternate routes,” Pittman said.

“In keeping with our Christian mission, this operating budget positions us well to meet the growing needs of Baylor students, faculty and staff — in the face of mounting national and global financial pressures,” Livingstone said.

Baylor approved construction permits for renovations to the Clifton Robinson Tower and the Baylor Sciences Building, with work expected to be completed by mid-2025.

It is unknown when the elevators might be back up. Until then, students who need it are encouraged to use the elevator in Jones Library to navigate between the first and second floors. The garden level and third floor of the Library will not be ADA-accessible until elevators are fixed.

“With the the images of Austin Avenue, it made Waco realize that Austin Avenue has so much great potential and because it was the main thoroughfare in the city of Waco at one time, it could be that again,” Hunt said.

But the building doesn’t seem to share the immortality of its namesake. Thursday afternoon, construction workers stood outside Castellaw to inspect issues on the second floor wall facing Moody Library. According to campus facilities, there are no structural or building issues, and facilities arrived to investigate “exterior ceiling surface deterioration due to weathering over the years.”

Starting next spring, the introduction to finance class will be held outside of the business school’s campus. Instead, it will be taught in Bennett Auditorium in the Draper Academic Building. According to Assistant Dean for Operations Anthony Lapes, it’s the first time the business school will be regularly holding classes outside Foster.

“A lot of students want to have their pictures taken [at Founders Mall] because of how pretty it is, and how Baylor-esque it is. And so with not being able to go around there at all, you have to re-plan your entire set of locations and rethink how you can still have a Baylor senior photo shoot without a location that’s so central to Baylor,” campus photographer Catherine Kramer said.

The Carona Family Commons, named after a $5 million gift from John and Helen Carona, brings the men’s and women’s sides of the HRC together for the first time ever.

Located at the corner of 4th Street and Daughtrey Avenue, the new building is estimated to be 12,000 square feet. The plan includes a coffee shop and pickleball court alongside the multipurpose space.

A ceremonial groundbreaking of the Memorial to Enslaved Persons was held Friday at Founders Mall, marking the start of phase two of the project, which is expected to be completed by next year.

The plan states that South University Parks Drive will be widened from two to four lanes to add more pedestrian infrastructure to “address a high number of total and severe crashes and provide safe bicycle and pedestrian facilities along the corridor.”

With the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Memorial to Enslaved Persons set to take place in late February, Dr. Todd Copeland gave insights on the lives of Ann Freeman — a slave believed to have served the university’s namesake, Judge R.E.B. Baylor — as well as other slaves throughout the university’s early history.

As the spring semester continues, several construction projects around campus are scheduled for completion, including the Fudge Football Development Center and a recent fire suppression system leak in the Bill Daniel Student Center.

“The construction project included reconstruction of everything in the right-of-way on Elm Avenue from MLK Boulevard to Spring Street,” a City of Waco statement reads. “Improvements included sidewalk, streetscape, drainage, waterline, and accessibility updates. New pedestrian lighting as well as landscaping were also added.”

“Over the years, we’ve seen changes, but it’s still Collins,” Gould said. “I think it’ll always be Collins. It’ll always be the hotspot. It’ll be the new and improved Collins, but the legacy is still there.”

Nichole Bekken, project manager of construction services, said she began planning for the $7.5 million renovation of both Allen and Dawson halls following the Board of Regents budget approval for the year in May. She said she is focused on creating community spaces that will enhance the connections between the LEAD Living-Learning Community—which is the community currently in Dawson—and the IMPACT LLC, following a fall 2022 merger of the two.

After years of anticipation, the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center — known as Baylor’s new “front door” — officially opened to the public Friday.

A renovation project on the building began earlier this summer after approval from Baylor’s Board of Regents during its annual May meeting. Dr. Douglas Henry, dean of the Honors College, said via email that the renovation will focus on creating a home for faculty and staff of the four Honors College departments.