Western Front - 1997 May 13

              VOLUNTEERS:
lending a helping hand
FEATURES, 6-7
TRACK: Vikings take
regionals, run to finals
in Georgia
SPORTS, 8
Tuesday,
Volume 100
Issue 12
WESTERN FRONT Western Washington University Bellingham, Washington
Western plans for expansion
Proposed bui.dings <\
Proposed playfields
Proposed loop road
Proposed expansion
By Arvid Hokanson
The Western Front
Fueled in part by increasing
demands on Western's campus
facilities and space, the adminis­tration
has completed its Draft
Comprehensive Master Plan, for­mulated
to provide a long-term
foundation for future capital
improvements to campus.
Western faces limited class­room
space coupled with aging
and inadequate academic and
support facilities. Faculty office
space exemplifies an area that has
outgrown its .current physical
resources.
"We're up against capacity for
spaces. We have had to push grad
students out of spaces they previ­ously
occupied along with the
professors emeritus," University
Planning Committee Chairman
John Miles said.
Another major issue facing
Western is the projected growth
of the college-age population.
"Demographic projections for
growth in the college age (17-23)
population due to children of the
baby-boom generation and
migration to the state will put
increased pressure, especially on
west-side universities, to accom­modate
more students," said
Renee Roberts, Western assistant
budget director — capital, said.
The master plan was conceived
in part in 1974 by Western to help
meet these and other future
enrollment demands.
"We use it (the master
plan) as a basis for making
decisions," Western Pres­ident
Karen Morse said.
"The campus master plan
will give us guidance on
what needs to be done and
the direction the university is
going to go ... It is a long-term
plan. Some of these things
may not happen for 25 to 40
years."
Roberts said, "Western's strate­gic
plan, which is currently being
revised, outlines academic pro­grams
and directions, while the
campus master plan develops the
physical improvements required
to meet those goals."
But the master plan has not
been received entirely with open
arms. Members of the surround­ing
neighborhoods and Western
have raised questions about vari­ous
aspects of the plan.
Three big issues: parking, land
acquisition and the proposed
"loop road" stand out in both the
minds of administrators and citi­zens.
In particular, land acquisition
has caused an uproar in the
Happy Valley neighborhood.
Much of Happy Valley, located
south of the commuter parking
lots, stands within the proposed
ng-term plan,
things may not
HatiHteuean
West^i presi0nt
boundary. Western has designated
land south to Knox Avenue and
from 20th Street to just east of the
Physical Plant as a future devel­opment
zone.
George Pierce, Western vice
president of business and finan­cial
affairs, said Western does not
have specific plans for the area at
this time, and until enough acqui­sition
money from the state is
allocated, can possibilities of both
use and acquisition be consid­ered.
Citizens have also complained
that Western has not been open
about its intentions.
To help inform citizens,
Western has been sponsoring sup­plemental
town meetings. But
South Hill resident Tom Ashton
said, "Until I went to a town
meeting, I had no idea what was
going on (with the master plan)."
The master plan outlines pro­jects
on and off the existing cam­pus,
including the addition of aca­demic
buildings, athletic
fields, dormitories and
parking complexes. The
plan also includes road
improvements and develop­ments
for pedestrian, bicy­cle
and transit access and
safety.
The reclamation of
green space, the desire to
maintain a 10-minute walk
between classes, parking, the
shift of non-academic and sup­port
facilities away from the aca­demic
core and maximum utiliza­tion
of existing space are consid­erations
in the planning.
Specific plans for Western's
campus include a new academic
quad south of Haskell Plaza and
Environmental Studies Building,
a "loop road" that would be a re­configured
south college drive
from Bill McDonald Parkway cir­cling
around the proposed quad
Front/Vincent Verhei
and connecting to 21st Street and
Bill McDonald Parkway where
the new campus-services facility
will be located.
The services facility would
house University Police, Parking
and Transportation Services and
the Student Health Center.
The' State Legislature has
appropriated $204,400 for the
1997-99 biennium to fund the
pre-design process of the commu­nications
building located in the
new academic quad.
Before any of the concepts of
the master plan can be considered
however, the City of Bellingham
must approve it.
The master, plan will be on the
agenda of the Bellingham
Planning Commission on June 5,
when citizens will be allowed to
give their input. The Planning
Commission must approve the
master plan before it goes on to
final approval by the Bellingham
City Council. Any other changes
that are recommended to the mas­ter
plan must also go before
Western's Board of Trustees.
Part two will examine
Western's neighbors concerns
pertaining to the handling of
information and the plan's
intentions.
Additional reporting by
Jacob Henifin.