Tarleton State breaks ground on Fort Worth campus

FORT WORTH, Texas - A state university that’s off the beaten path is building a new campus on a fast-growing path in southwest Fort Worth.

The new Tarleton State University campus will be part of a much larger development boom that will include retail shopping, residential housing, a new elementary school and a 75-acre park.

It will be located just west of the Chisholm Trail Parkway and span about 80 acres on property that was donated by the Walton Group.

"These will be degrees people come out with and there is a demand for the job already,” said Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price. "Part of our economic development strategy tells us we need to focus on developing the talent pool more and Tarleton will be able to help us with that.”

Tarleton says it's listening to key Fort Worth employers like Lockheed Martin, Bell Helicopter and others in the medical field.

"All the programs we've developed have been focused on the workforce needs of this region and what employers are saying they need,” said Tarleton State President F. Dominic Dottavio.

Tarleton State’s main campus will remain in Stephenville. The new location will be just an outreach campus with an expansion of the university’s engineering program.

The first phase of the construction begins Tuesday with a $41 million academic building. By the end of the year the entire campus will be nearly complete.

Classes are set to begin in the fall of next year for about 2,500 students. The goal is for the campus to serve 9,000 students by 2030.