University planners are shuffling the designated green spaces on campus to accommodate the soon-to-be-constructed Lewis Integrative Science Building.
At a public meeting yesterday, the Campus Planning Committee, which oversees University construction projects, amended the campus open space plan to fit the proposed 100,000-square-foot building, although it did not go as far as to approve the overall design.
With its current location and design, the building would be situated just north of Deschutes Hall and connect to Streisinger Hall, Deschutes Hall and the underground Lorry I. Lokey Laboratories.
Fred Tepfer, project planning manager for Campus Planning, said the project is “about crafting more space and better connections for science on campus.” He said it would be part of the “long tradition of physical integration in the sciences.”
The proposed location would cut into the Science Green west of Oregon Hall. However, the committee’s amendment expanded the Agate Entrance Green; it also created a
designated open space on the north edge of campus along Franklin Boulevard. Director of Student Activities Gregg Lobisser said the net amount of open space would be roughly the same.
While building on the location would uproot many trees, designers said special care was taken to preserve the two grand red oaks near the intersection of Agate Street and Franklin
Boulevard.
“For me, (the location) is a tough reconciliation,” Lobisser said, “but we’ve done as well as we can.”
Some on the committee expressed concern about the open space amendment, but in the end the committee approved it and agreed to meet again to further discuss the design.
During the public hearing portion of the meeting, only one person, community activist Zach Vishanoff, spoke. Vishanoff spoke critically of the project, saying there was not enough public input and recommending it be built on the current site of Huestis Hall, which he called “an eyesore.”
Builders expect to break ground on the $65 million project by summer 2010, with
completion by 2012.
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