Public meetings on the Lee Road Master Plan will be held from noon to
2 p.m. Tuesday in 210 Student Union on the North Campus, from noon to
2 p.m. Wednesday in 145B Student Union and from noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 25
in Harriman Hall Theatre on the South Campus. The project's architect,
Stieglitz Snyder Architecture, will conduct a power-point presentation
of its recommendations for the project, answer questions and take comments
from participants.
Clifford Wilson, associate vice president for student affairs, said the
project has "gone from an idea to a concept," noting that 15 to 20 campus
stakeholder groups were consulted during that process.
"Now, we're going back out to the campus in general—here's where
we think we're going, here's the kind of services we think we need," Wilson
said. "We need the campus response—is this a good idea, a bad idea,
what works, what doesn't."
The plan as currently drawn includes apartment-style house for as many
as 3,000 students, retail space, student-services space, a student health
center, a student recreational center—similar to a health club—several
parking garages, a conference center and possibly a child care center.
The University Bookstore and The Commons would be torn down, and vendors
likely would be relocated in the new commercial space.
Wilson pointed out that a full State Environmental Quality Review Act
(SEQRA) review will be done for the project.
He said that services in the new complex would be targeted to faculty
and staff members, as well as students. The idea, he said, would be to
create a "college town" for the campus, similar to the College Town area
of Ithaca near Cornell University that serves as a social, as well as
commercial, hub for the campus.
The plan would involve a major rerouting of traffic in the area. Putnam
Way between Clemens Hall and the Student Union would be reopened to two-way
traffic "to make finding things on campus that much easier," he said.
Lee Road could be extended straight through the Audubon Parkway to the
Ellicott Complex, creating a new entrance from the parkway to the center
of campus to "improve circulation…and begin to connect Ellicott more
to the campus," Wilson added. Replacing the current flashing light at
Lee Road and the parkway with a stoplight, as well as removing the median
in the parkway, would slow traffic on the thoroughfare and provide a safer
place to cross the roadway, he said.
In addition, the traffic light at Hamilton Road and the Audubon Parkway
would be eliminated, as would the stoplight at the parkway and Frontier
Road, which encircles Ellicott.
Administrators and the architect will consider all input received in
developing the final master plan, Wilson said, adding that financing will
be addressed once the master plan is in place.
The majority of the project would be self-financed, he said, noting that
student rental fees would pay for the housing, while rents paid by retail
tenants, as well as student recreation and health fees, parking fees and
grants also could be used to fund the project. Very little state money
would go toward the project, he stressed.
The project would be built in phases, and could take up to 10 years to
complete, Wilson said, adding that construction on a few buildings—most
likely housing at the north end of the project near Ellicott—could
begin as soon as late Summer 2002.
