The University began demolition of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work on Sept. 23 to build a new football training facility.
Prior to housing the School of Social Work, the building was home to University Junior High School, the first fully integrated public middle school in Austin.
Save the Past for the fUTure coalition, a group fighting to preserve the building due to its history, attended a hearing with the Texas Historical Commission in July to designate the building as a State Antiquities Landmark. Although the commission voted in favor of the coalition, Joseph Bell, executive director of the Texas Historical Commission, approved UT’s
demolition permit application on Sept. 17 in a letter sent to the University.
In the letter, Bell said that although the State Antiquities Landmark designation ensures the building’s history is commemorated, it does not “outright prevent” the building from being demolished. He said that UT complied with the requirements for demolition, including a preservation feasibility study that proved the building is not conducive to ongoing academic purposes, according to the letter.
Texas Athletics announced in February that the University would demolish the building to house the new $70 million football training facility, which features a three-lane sprint track, offensive and defensive lineman drill space and parking.
A University spokesperson said in an email that the football training facility is expected to be completed by August 2026. The School of Social Work will be housed in Walter Webb Hall for about four years.
Kathy Armenta, co-founder of Save the Past for the fUTure, said coalition members found out about the permit approval after filing an open records request.
“We were stunned (by the decision),” said Armenta, a retired emeritus social work professor. “We had been in communication with the communications director of the Texas Historical Commission since July. As time went by, we decided to go ahead and file the open records (request) because we were just anxious to figure out what the next steps might be. (Then) boom … we found out.”
UT plans to commemorate the building by creating a documentary and salvaging select architectural features, a University spokesperson said in an email.
Edwin Bautista, co-founder of the coalition, said he does not think the decision process was transparent as the Historical commission did not notify the coalition of the demolition’s approval. He also said UT’s preservation plans are not enough to commemorate the building’s history.
“The building … was meant to educate not only students in Austin through the local school district but students at the University receiving their higher education,” Bautista said. “It really is a story of education and history that UT is just disregarding.”
Barbara Anderson, co-founder of Save the Past for the fUTure, said despite Bell’s decision, the coalition is determined to save the building. She said they are exploring legal avenues to preserve it.
“Those of us who are committed to preservation have to act as though there is hope,” said Anderson, a retired emeritus social work professor. “People have laughed, and they’ve said, ‘It’s not worth the trouble.’ Those words fall flat on us because it is worth the trouble (due to the) denial of history.”
