Health care
BY ELLE BENT & KATY MCAFEE
Medical center to replace Frank Erwin Center
The Frank Erwin Center will be replaced by two new hospitals, including a cancer center, to treat
Austinites by 2030. What’s happening
How we got here
1977
Plans to launch the hospital towers—The Univer- sity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and a UT Austin hospital—were announced in August 2023, set to replace the former events center. “The establishment of the [medical center] will undoubtedly result in transformative cancer care, provide students at the agship campus with unmatched experiences, and bene t patients throughout the state and nation for all time,” said Kevin P. Eltife, UT System Board of Regents chair. The hospital will have about 250 beds, while the new cancer center will include 156 beds and over 230 outpatient exam rooms. UT students studying medicine or similar elds could work and learn at the new hospitals, which will be sta ed by MD Anderson physicians. The framework The Frank Erwin Center was completely demol- ished May 19, a task that has been in the works since June 2023. By September, crews are expected to nish clearing away pieces of remaining concrete. The backstory The center opened in 1977 and had about a
November: The Frank Erwin Center opens, hosting University of Texas basketball games, graduation ceremonies, concerts and more.
Crews cleared the last standing remains of concrete and steel May 19, before the Frank Erwin Center fully came down.
COURTESY VALERIE NIES
2022
50-year standard, after which it would need to be reinvested in or rebuilt. The center was around 500,000 square feet, spanning up to six stories that hosted UT basket- ball games, graduation ceremonies, concerts and other large-scale events. Now, it is replaced by the Moody Center, which opened in April 2022, just a few blocks north of the old center. What’s next Construction on the new medical towers will break ground in 2026. “We’re looking forward to the future,” said Dan Cook, UT’s executive director of planning, design and construction. “We’ve seen that Austin has been growing, and the partnership between the university and the MD Anderson Cancer Center presents itself as a really special opportunity to create what we’re referring to as a joint Medical Center that will provide world-class health care to the community.”
April: The Moody Center opens May: The Frank Erwin Center closes after hosting its last event, UT graduation ceremonies
2023
May: The University of Texas System Board of Regents voted to demolish the Erwin Center August: O cials announce the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and a UT Austin hospital will replace the Frank Erwin Center June: Crews begin taking down the former arena piece by piece
2024
May: Frank Erwin Center was fully demolished September: Last remaining pieces of concrete will be cleared away by crews
2026
Construction to begin on the hospital towers
2030
Patients will be accepted at the hospitals
SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS COMMUNITY IMPACT
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