Did you know that UTSA was set up to be converted to a prison if the university failed?
Yep, it’s true. I remember my tour guide at the 2015 UTSA Day telling us this story as we walked through the main hall of the MH building. This stuck with me since that day, and I love telling people about it.
Disclaimer: I’m going off of pure memory here, so please bare with me. :)
When UTSA was first built, they weren’t too entirely sure how successful it was going to be. Thank goodness we are 50 years in, and the university is thriving (for the most part.) At the time, the location of the university was on the outskirts of San Antonio, which would have been the perfect location if they had to convert it.
Have you noticed just how weird the setup on campus is? Most of the first floors of the buildings are underground, and how all of the buildings surrounding the Sombrilla just look… creepy? The first floors of these buildings are “underground” just in case the whole prison thing had to happen.
If the conversion had to happen, the JPL was supposed to be the “watch tower” area, and I guess the Sombrilla would have made the perfect yard for prisoners?
From the official UTSA Twitter account.
Now let’s take a moment to recognize that the study rooms in the JPL are comparable to the size of a prison cell… I’ll let that sink in for you.
If that isn’t enough to unnerve you like it did me, the second floor hallway of the MH is large enough for a police car to drive down.
I love urban legends and spooky things, so as a junior in high school, hearing these tales only confirmed that I was choosing the right university for me.
The semester is winding now right now, but try to take the time to look around and imagine what this area would have looked like if UTSA wouldn’t have succeeded.
*Spooky* Birds Up!