New Sea Turtle Hospital Planned for Galveston

Texas A&M University at Galveston said on May 22 that it plans to build a new sea turtle rehabilitation hospital and educational outreach center on Galveston Island, expanding a program that now operates from a temporary facility on campus. The school said it expects to break ground in December 2026 and complete the project in May 2028. The building is planned as the Cheryl Mellenthin Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital and Educational Outreach Center, a project tied to the university’s Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research. University materials say the new hospital will replace a smaller structure that no longer meets long-term treatment needs. ### Why is Texas A&M-Galveston replacing the current turtle hospital? The Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research, created in 2019, has rescued and responded to more than 500 turtles and treated nearly 300 in its temporary hospital facility, according to Texas A&M-Galveston. The university said the current hospital is housed in the Wetlands Center in a pre-engineered metal building of about 1,700 gross square feet. (khou.com) Texas A&M-Galveston said that temporary setup met an immediate need to stage, respond to and treat animals, but is not ideal for long-term intervention and for separating turtles diagnosed with fibropapillomatosis, a contagious disease that causes tumors. The university said operations at the current site have outgrown the space. ### What will the new facility include for turtle care? (tamug.edu) The new hospital is listed by Texas A&M-Galveston at 11,733 gross square feet on its current building projects page, though other university fundraising materials have described the broader complex at about 16,000 square feet. The school’s project page says the figures are preliminary and conceptual and may change as development continues. (tamug.edu) Texas A&M Foundation materials say the complex is planned to include a veterinary clinic, resident turtle tanks and two hospital wards with biological life-support systems for injured and sick turtles. Texas A&M-Galveston’s sea turtle program says the new hospital is intended to increase treatment capacity during major cold-stunning events and other mass strandings. (tamug.edu) The Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research says it is the federally permitted lead for sea turtle rescue, recovery and rehabilitation on the upper and middle Texas coast. The center says a larger hospital would allow it to treat significantly more turtles from Texas and from partner rescue efforts elsewhere, including cold-stunned turtles transported from Cape Cod in recent years. (spirit.txamfoundation.com) ### What will visitors see inside the education center? Texas A&M-Galveston said the project is designed not only as a hospital but also as a public-facing outreach site. The university’s sea turtle hospital page says ambassador tanks outside the hospital wards will house non-releasable but healthy turtles that visitors will be able to see “often and up close.” (tamug.edu) University materials say those ambassador animals are meant to anchor exhibits about Galveston Bay, the western Gulf of Mexico and marine conservation. The school also says public viewing areas are planned so visitors can look into hospital and rehabilitation rooms, alongside resident turtle tanks and outreach space. Texas A&M-Galveston says the public component is also intended to create an operational revenue stream through ecotourism. (tamug.edu) The university describes the site as the only place on the upper Texas coast where visitors would be able to view sea turtles in that way. ### Who is paying for the project? The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents approved the facility’s Cheryl Mellenthin name in August 2025, according to the Galveston campus newsroom. (tamug.edu) The university said Mellenthin, through the Mark A. Chapman Foundation, has given or committed $8.55 million to support the project. (tamug.edu) Texas A&M-Galveston said additional support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Texas General Land Office and National Restoration Damage Assessment trustees helped the project reach its $23 million fundraising goal. Foundation materials say a $4 million gift in May 2025 completed the amount needed to move toward construction. (news.galveston.tamu.edu) ### What happens next on the Galveston campus? Texas A&M-Galveston’s project page lists December 2026 as the anticipated groundbreaking date and May 2028 as the anticipated completion date. The university says the information remains conceptual and could change as the project develops. The next public milestone is the start of construction on the Galveston campus, where the Cheryl Mellenthin Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital and Educational Outreach Center is planned to replace the current temporary hospital with a larger treatment and visitor facility. (news.galveston.tamu.edu) (tamug.edu)