The University of Texas at Dallas is constructing a cultural arts district in Richardson

The University of Texas at Dallas is constructing the Edith and Peter O-Donnell Jr. Athenaeum — a new cultural district for the arts and learning on the southeastern edge of the Richardson campus. 

The facility will sit on about 12 acres and will create a new gateway to the campus, the university says in a news release.

The project will consist of three new buildings — a second location for the Crow Museum of Asian Art, a performance hall and a planned museum for the traditional arts of the Americas.

A two-acre plaza will sit in the middle of the project surrounded by buildings on the east and west sides. Other features of the cultural district: open spaces with benches, water features, and an amphitheater.

On the western edge of the plaza will be three buildings:

• the two-story, 68,000-square-foot Crow Museum, which includes 12,000 square feet of outdoor space for programs and events 
• a two-story, 53,000-square-foot performance hall with a 600-seat concert hall, practice rooms, and choral and orchestra rehearsal rooms
• a two-story, 50,000-square-foot museum for the traditional arts of the Americas.

On the eastern edge of the plaza, masked by a freestanding wall, will be a three-story 1,100-car parking structure.

The Crow Museum will continue programming in its existing space in the downtown Dallas Arts District.

A $32 million donation from the O'Donnell Foundation is supporting the development. 

Phase I of the O’Donnell Athenaeum, the Crow Museum of Asian Art facility, is expected to be completed in spring 2024.