LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It has been a record-setting year for UNLV.
According to interim president Chris Heavey, over the last year, UNLV has seen record enrollment with about 34,000 students, record research expenditures at $134 million, and a record 52% graduation rate. With that growth comes expansion.
On Wednesday, Heavey gave the 2026 State of the University address and laid out plans for several big projects that are on the horizon. That includes updated plans for a memorial garden, a new parking garage, expanding preschool programs, and a new business building.
Here are the quick hits from his speech.
UNLV Memorial Garden
It's been nearly three years since three faculty members were killed and a fourth was injured in an on-campus shooting. Since then, the university has been working on plans for a memorial garden to remember their lives but also honor first responders.
The memorial is estimated to cost about $2.5 million.
"In the next few weeks, we'll start a capital campaign in order to raise money for this garden," Heavey said on Wednesday. "We're going to get this thing built next year so that people have a space to remember that tragic day but also to find peace and comfort in the community that we have together."
The garden will be called "Bloom" and will have four distinct pods representing Dr. Jerry Cha-Jan Chang, Dr. Patricia Navarro Velez, Dr. Naoko Takemaru, and Dr. Bot Rith.
"A carefully curated plant palette reflects their personalities and cultural heritage while a gentle meandering pathway leads visitors inward to a central space," UNLV's website reads in part. "Dedicated to the first responders, the center will feature a large cedar elm tree."
The project will be completed in three phases. In addition to the capital campaign, UNLV officials state there are other opportunities to support the project through materials such as concrete, electrical and lighting systems, landscape plant materials, and architectural features.
New Parking Garage
UNLV is getting ready to address a campus headache that visitors, faculty, and students all have — parking.
"We're excited to say that we are about to break ground and the county commission is sitting on the permit," Heavey said. "We think it's going to come as early as next week."
Heavey added this will be the third garage, which will be located behind In-N-Out and Transit Center.
"It will add 1,250 new spaces," Heavey said. "This should break ground literally within a week or two and we'll have that done by Fall 2027."
Preschool Expansion
UNLV is continuing work on a $17.5 million project to help add to the preschool program. The Lynn Bennett Early Childhood Education Center will be renamed the Marlowe Campus For Early Childhood Education.
The campus will add three new buildings, which will equal about 11,000 square feet.
"That will allow us to add 80 more kids so that waitlist won't be so long," Heavey said. "There is another incredible resource for our campus and the community at large."
New Business Building
One of the biggest projects on deck is a new business school building.
"This building will sit right on Maryland Parkway," Heavey said. "We want to thank the governor and the legislature for a historic, also record, investment in a UNLV building. We've got about $75 million already committed from the state."
University officials said a new building was needed due to how fast business programs are growing. There are more than 4,700 undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled in Lee Business School.
"This building is going to sort of serve us on five different levels with these five pillars," said Anjala Krishen, the Interim Dean of Lee Business School. "There's community. There's scholarship and knowledge. There's advancement and growth. There's technology and artificial intelligence and there's convergence."
Heavey said UNLV is anticipating breaking ground on that project within the next 18 months.
You can watch the full State of the University speech below.