On Thursday nights, some fashion merchandising majors dread going to class. It’s not the classwork or the instructor that they want to avoid — it’s the walk that takes them off TCU’s campus to a building they say that doesn’t have enough workspace for students.

In the spring, TCU plans to construct a new building nestled behind the Moudy Complex at the corner of Greene Avenue and West Cantey Street.

Isabella Mancini, a sophomore fashion merchandising major, said the walk from Moudy to the off-campus classroom makes some students feel unsafe.

“The shuttle doesn’t stop at the building, and it makes it very difficult to get to class,” Mancini said.

Students are given 10 minutes of transition time between classes. However, the on-average 12-minute walk makes it hard for some students to get to class on time. 

Because of the far location, students often want to drive, but parking spaces are scarce. The lack of student parking for the current building prevents driving from being an option for many, Mancini explained.

The location is not the only problem. According to Kenzie Ashley, a first-year fashion merchandising major, the current building is also rundown and does not have enough space for students to work efficiently.

The new state-of-the-art Interior Design and Fashion Merchandizing facility will offer a variety of new spaces for innovation and learning — including four computer labs, a textile testing lab, flexible seminar and jury rooms, and space for archival storage for the TCU historic dress collection.

Marketing Coordinator of the College of Fine Arts, Kathryn Dunn, said this is all geared toward providing the best possible environment for TCU students.

Dunn said ground will be broken this spring. The completion date is anticipated to be in fall 2019. At that point, TCU students will have an on-campus location with improved space. According to Dunn, this is important for TCU’s Department of Interior Design and Fashion Merchandising to remain competitive with other programs around the nation.