University plans growth

By Kyle Moncelle

The University campus is built a lot like a jigsaw puzzle. The buildings, foliage, parks, roads, stores, restaurants and houses all fit together to make the campus that are familiar with today.

The pieces that paint the picture of the University are part of the master plan created by the Board of Trustees for the growth of the University.

Most recent adjustments to the master plan, including changes to Research Park, are pending approval from the Board of Trustees and won’t go into effect until approval is granted. The goal is to have the plan approved at the May 2005 Board of Trustees meeting.

“Basically, (the master plan) is a plan for the campus layout and its future growth,” said Mark Inglert, manager of University Planning and Design.

The Board of Trustees reviews and approves the master plan, which is a composite of previous plans and updates, Inglert said. The basic framework for the master plan has been in existence since 1986.

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“Typically a master plan looks at a 25-year horizon. However, enough changes within a eight to ten-year period can facilitate a need for change,” Inglert said. “The main goal of the master plan is to create quality within the campus setting, to have it reflect a certain stature and the University’s image.”

The previous plan update was in 2001 and included changes to the South Campus.

“This update is to address some program and land issues,” Inglert said.

Among the issues to be addressed by the update are commercial issues regarding Research Park, the Orchard Downs area, University Avenue and Campustown, among other commercial locations, Inglert said.

Inglert said commercial issues would not be the only issues addressed in the plan.

“Students may start to see us address the issue of campus landscape relatively soon,” Inglert said. “We want to change things according to what makes sense to make things greener and less costly to maintain.”

Students could see a reorganization of transportation over the next few years, which would try to make conflict points between pedestrians and vehicles safer, Inglert said.

“I think that it’s a good idea to make (the roads) safer because there have been accidents throughout last semester where students had been hit by buses and cars,” said Estela Escobedo, freshman in LAS. “Anything that makes the campus safer is a good idea.”

This update also addresses the Athletics Campus, where the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics facilities are located, Research Park and the enhancement of the campus landscape’s maintenance and design.

The area now known as Research Park is still largely undeveloped, Inglert said. This update to the master plan will change it from a more suburban layout to one that is developed more densely without eating up land, he said.

“I think that, either way, not many students are in that area,” said Andrew Sheridan, junior in ACES. “Most undergraduate students don’t go down there, with the exception of the south farms. I don’t think it’s very relevant to develop it.”

Inglert said the issues being addressed in the master plan update take time to implement and the development happens incrementally in small doses.

“These changes are not going to have an immediate effect on students, it’s more of a change that effects changes in planning for the future,” Inglert said.