The UT Tower will undergo its first-ever renovation following the UT System Board of Regents approval of a $70 million project at its meeting on Feb. 21. 

The project is set to begin construction in January 2025 and wrap up in March 2027. The system added the project to its Capital Improvement Program, a long-term plan to renovate University buildings, on Wednesday. 

The tower opened in 1937 and has since become a “beloved college landmark,” said President Jay Hartzell in the meeting. 

Hartzell said the project will include restoration of the main building, tower exterior and clock, landscape redevelopment, stone repairs and waterproofing of the 27th-floor observation deck. It will also renovate the lobbies, restrooms, elevators and lighting, Hartzell said in the board meeting.

The renovation will be funded by a $26 million investment from the UT System’s Permanent University Fund bond, approved in 2022, in conjunction with another $26 million in donations and $18 million from the Available University Fund, Hartzell said. 

“The renovation of the main building is in direct support of the University’s strategic plan,” Hartzell said at the meeting. “Particularly the call to build new spaces and transform existing spaces to support a vibrant Longhorn culture, foster outstanding learning, research and scholarship, inspire our students, our faculty and staff and draw in our alumni or neighbors.”