OTL’s Role:
Abilene Christian University GATA Fountain
LOCATION
Abilene, Texas
GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Hoar Construction
DESIGNER
Michael Webb
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Coleman & Associates
PROJECT OVERVIEW
- Build
- Architectural Fountain
- LED Lighting
- Tile and Stone Finishes
At the heart of Abilene Christian University sits the GATA Fountain, a tribute to one of campus’s most storied traditions: a century of sisterhood carried by the Girls Aid to Athletics club. OTL was entrusted with reimagining this beloved landmark as a new basketball coliseum was built beside it.
Now, the fountain bridges generations, honoring ACU’s history while welcoming its next chapter of athletics and community.
PROJECT
CHALLENGE
As Abilene Christian broke ground on its new coliseum, a decades-old fountain could no longer carry that moment. University leaders wanted an amenity grand enough to anchor this new building while still honoring GATA’s legacy.
Adding to that challenge, construction took place on an active campus with only one entrance serving every trade on site.
OTL’S
SOLUTION
OTL built the new GATA Fountain from precast concrete, tile and ASL Stone granite, anchored by a bench bearing the club’s iconic red diamond and lettering.
A dentil pattern cut into the granite sends water cascading in a serrated sheet across three weirs into the basins below, lit by crystal DMX and RGBW fixtures glowing in every color of the spectrum.
The team also worked around live campus utilities and a single busy entrance, keeping coliseum and fountain construction moving in step.
The GATA Fountain now stands watch over ACU’s newest generation of student athletes, its design and glowing lights carrying forward a century of tradition.
Woven into the new coliseum, it gives students, faculty and visitors a graceful place to pause and celebrate the Wildcats for decades to come.
