Drawing plans for a changing campus
UM will build parking garages, demo buildings, remove roads to become greener
Heather Steeves
Issue date: 3/24/08 Section: News
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Wednesday night, two representatives from Sasaki Associates - the firm hired to produce the plan - gave a presentation to the public. The company wanted to get local input on the possible changes.
The preliminary master plan focuses on making the campus more pedestrian friendly. This includes centralizing buildings to a 10-minute walking radius. Some roads, including Beddington, Sebec and Belgrade Spur will be removed, according to the preliminaries. The roads that will stay near the center of campus will have lower speed limits in an effort to make them more walkable.
One of the main goals of the plan is to reduce paved areas on campus. Part of the solution includes building three parking garages. This will create 7,387 spaces, which is 607 more than the campus currently has. Sasaki also wants to restructure the paths on campus.
Frederick Olmsted the designer of Central Park in New York City, originally designed UMaine's landscape. Principal at Sasaki, Greg Havens, said he wants to keep the integrity of those plans. "We respect the legacy you have here," he said.
Olmsted's blueprints included crossing pathways across the mall. Sasaki said they would use this idea.
"We should just go out and see how people move," Havens said he received comments asking about these pathways at three of the five presentations he gave on Wednesday. One audience member said seeing a student trudge across the snowy mall in flip-flops reminded him of the importance of those paths.
Other mall changes include adding trees and other natural wind blockers to the perimeter. "On a December day when the wind is blowing like hell and it's cold and you have to huddle and get yourself across that mall, that space just isn't working," Sasaki Principal Janne Corneil said.
Resident halls on campus will remain the same, with some new additions. The plan includes adding rooms for more than 1,000 additional students. Sasaki and UMaine Vice President for Administration and Finance Janet Waldron said they are considering bringing in a private contractor - similar to Orchard Trails - to add housing on campus. Orono would be able to tax this company for their services, which could help with local economy and lessen the need for parking by keeping more students on campus.
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dan
posted 3/24/08 @ 10:39 AM EST
is there a link to that map anywhere?
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