Texas A&M breaks ground on $250 million Aplin Center funded by Buc-ee's founder
Watch the full story here:
Texas A&M University officially broke ground for the Aplin Center, a massive $250 million academic hub for food and nutrition sciences, retail, and hospitality. The center is named after Buc-ee's founder Arch "Beaver" Aplin, who provided a generous $60 million gift to make the project possible.
"He's now providing students with the secret sauce to be able to replicate his success through experiential learning centers that will foster the next generation of hospitality and retail innovators," Governor Greg Abbott said.
The three-story structure has been five years in the making and will serve as more than just an academic building. It will replace the current visitor center, anchoring the campus with a modern welcome center for the more than 100,000 young people who tour the college annually.
"Just like Beaver changed the retailing and hospitality industry, students at A&M will apply that knowledge to design the future of the service industry," Abbott said.
Texas A&M Chancellor Glenn Hegar praised Aplin's contribution, noting how it reflects the university's values.
"One of the things people talk about is Aggie's hospitality, generosity, caring, and the fact is that's the epitome of Beaver Aplin," Hegar said.
Aplin expressed excitement about the center's role as the first stop for campus visitors.
"We have over 100,000 young people a year come to tour the college, and so this will be their first place to stop as a visitor center at the Aplin Center. It's gonna be game-changing," Aplin said.
The chancellor emphasized the long-term impact the center will have on innovation and student development.
"So think about this here is going to be developing and help creating some of those ideas that we're gonna be even more proud about as Aggies in the next 10 and 15 years," Hegar said.
The planned completion date for the Aplin Center is February 2028.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.