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For Immediate Release - April 19, 1999
EIU TRUSTEES GIVE CAMPUS MASTER PLAN NOD OF APPROVAL:
CHARLESTON - Eastern Illinois University's Board of
Trustees today gave approval to a campus master plan that will provide direction to the
future development of the university's physical infrastructure, including buildings,
grounds, streets and parking lots. The purpose of the campus master plan is to
ensure that Eastern's grounds and buildings support and enhance the university's mission
and programs. The plan considers issues such as deferred maintenance, space
allocation, facility functionality, vehicular and pedestrian transit, landscaping and
architectural standards, and overall campus layout and design.
The campus master plan has been under development for the past nine months
by a university committee, chaired by trustee Tom Johnson of Rockford, representing
students, faculty, staff, the university administration and Eastern's Board of Trustees.
During this period, university and consulting master planners met with a wide
variety of academic departments, support offices and university and community groups in
more than 50 individual meetings to receive input used in the preparation of the plan.
Jeff Conroy of Sizemore, Floyd, Conroy Architects of Chicago, the
consulting firm working alongside university planners, presented the proposed campus
master plan to the trustees at their April 19, 1999 meeting in Charleston. The
campus master plan was recommended by the committee based on research designed to help the
university determine its current and future needs; enhance university life; support the
university's mission, policies and standards; and guide the university's future physical
development.
"We worked quickly but deliberately, making broad-based decisions
with consensus among all committee members," said Conroy. "We considered
hundreds of ideas and suggestions received at the many meetings held with various
stakeholders over the nine-month process, as well as a variety of suggestions submitted to
the committee following the two town meetings held to update the campus community on the
draft plan's status. The campus master plan presented today provides Eastern with a
roadmap to future development," Conroy noted.
"We feel particularly good about this planning effort because of our
work with the campus community and the City of Charleston, which is also developing a
master plan," said Ted Weidner, Eastern's director of facilities planning and
management.
Potential projects outlined in the campus master plan include:
- Expansion of the Doudna Fine Arts Center, which may require the closure
of parts of Seventh Street on campus and the demolition of Buzzard House and the Clinical
Services Buildings. Seventh Street would become part of the university's core campus
and would be landscaped and closed to all but pedestrians and service vehicles. New
locations would be found for Eastern's Counseling Center and Student Health Service.
- The construction of a new science building to house the Departments of
Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Communication Disorders and Sciences and Psychology, as
well as the College of Sciences Dean's Office. The current Physical Sciences
Building would be rehabilitated to house the Departments of Geology/Geography and Physics.
- Improving pedestrian access and safety throughout the campus, a guiding
principle of the campus master plan. Existing conflicts between pedestrians and
vehicles would be reduced or eliminated with the construction of several new parking lots
and the closure of some internal campus streets. In addition, campus "green
space" would be improved and expanded to further accentuate Eastern as an
extraordinarily beautiful and welcoming college campus.
- Desirable locations for any new or enhanced student housing are
identified on the east side of campus, including suite housing south of the Tarble Arts
Center and apartments between Ninth and Tenth streets. In addition, the master plan
includes a potential location for another building in Greek Court to address the demand
for Greek housing.
- Moving the Textbook Rental Service from its existing location in
Pemberton Hall to a new location, either north of Greek Court where a new self-service
facility could be constructed economically, or to an addition proposed for the east side
of the Martin Luther King, Junior University Union.
- Increasing and enhancing campus green space by removing the existing
Student Services Building, and constructing a new student services facility that would
bring together many of the functions that students presently find spread throughout the
campus.
- Improving recreation and athletic areas on the east and west sides of
campus. These improvements would further the master plan's guiding principle of
delineating academic, administrative, residential and recreational zones of the campus.
- In the ultimate phase of development (ten to fifteen years from now),
additional space for athletics and recreation, including a Convocation Center west of
Fourth Street on Lincoln Avenue and an addition to the Lantz Building. This area
would provide for special event parking and hose a suggested life-long learning center and
a campus visitor's center. New Alumni Association and EIU Foundation facilities also
could be located in this area.
- Finally, the campus master plan recommends the relocation of some
existing parking lots away from the campus core, in order to improve safety and to enhance
campus beauty and utility. The plan also contemplates the addition of more parking
spaces, resulting in a net addition of 1,400 parking spaces over the fifteen-plus year
time period covered by the plan.
Return to the 1999 Campus Master Plan.
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