When students return to the University of Oregon in the fall of 2019 – Franklin Boulevard will look completely different.
A glass sky bridge spanning across Franklin Boulevard that connects the two halves of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact will be constructed over the summer. The bridge will not be open until 2020.
Construction began on the estimated $1 billion campus last March and the campus is scheduled to open in spring of 2020.
Robert Guldberg, vice president and Robert and Leona DeArmond executive director of the Knight Campus, said in a statement via email that construction of the first building is moving on schedule.
Gulberg said in the statement that the Knight Campus team has been working to build “solid academic and physical foundations.”
For example, the launch of the Knight Campus Undergraduate Scholars program, a pilot project geared towards creating a “comprehensive research experience,” and the merger of the Masters in physics program into the Knight Campus saw success.
“One of the Knight Campus graduate internship programs contributed to the UO’s recent top ranking in physics degrees,” Guldberg said.
AroundtheO reported that UO awarded the most masters degrees in physics in the country, and was ranked No. 1 in the US from a report from the American Institute of Physics.
The different academic programs, majors and minors will have to be approved by the university senate before they are launched. Programs will be presented to the senate throughout this school year, senate president Bill Harbaugh said.
Funding for the Knight Campus comes from a variety of sources, most notably a $500 million donation from Phil and Penny Knight. Other sources include $70 million of a requested $100 million in approved state bonds and $10 million from UO alumni Robert and Leona DeArmond; who donated $10 million to endow Guldberg his position last June.
UO hired Portland-based firm Bora Architects and New York-based firm Ennead Architects for the project.
Construction and traffic information will be communicated through AroundtheO and the Knight Campus website, according to a statement from University of Oregon intrum spokesperson Molly Blancett.
“We’re full steam ahead on construction of our first building. So, there’s a lot to look forward to at the Knight Campus in 2019,” Guldberg said in the statement.
*Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the amount of state funding for Knight Campus. The actual amount is $70 million of a requested $100 million in approved state bonds.
