The MSU Board of Trustees’ 2020 Vision is making the view of campus clearer.
Maps of the 20-year campus master plan, called the 2020 Vision, were presented to the trustees during a meeting last week.
They will see the official plan in June and be asked to approve it in late fall.
“We need to put together a sweeping plan to put this together,” MSU President M. Peter McPherson said. “There’s clearly a lot of things to think about.”
The proposed master plan includes predictions of where new buildings will be placed, which old buildings will be torn down and how university officials will conserve campus greenery while maintaining adequate parking space.
Older buildings like Giltner Hall and the Paolucci Building may be demolished, but there are plans to build a new music building, psychology building, alumni center, student activity center and additions to several campus buildings. Plans for three new parking garages are also on the map.
Accounting graduate student Lisa Ryan said she’s glad the trustees are taking a long-term view of the campus, but doesn’t want to see too many changes.
“I’m going to come back here 20 years from now and not even recognize anything,” she said. “I definitely see the need to renovate, but I don’t think they should tear the old buildings down. I want to be able to say ‘Oh, that’s where that used to be.’”
But others say the renovations, construction and demolition may be necessary.
Officials are predicting that students and faculty will need an additional 3.7 million gross square feet for research and learning by 2020.
“I’ve never talked to a dean or a chairperson who didn’t need more space,” said Bill Latta, assistant director of the Office of Planning and Budgets. “We’re going to give someone else a chance to grow on campus if they need to.”
While there are no plans to build new residence halls, officials will consider placing central cafeterias between campus buildings, similar to the design of the Brody Complex.
The plan is based on a set of building principles created by the trustees and campus planners. The plan isn’t binding, allowing future trustees to make changes as needed - as long as the adaptations fit in with the design principles.
“There’s a number of fingerprints on this crystal ball,” Latta said. “It’s likely to change.”
Trustees and campus planners agree they want MSU to maintain the historical architecture found on the north side of campus, even if the buildings are new.
“This does preserve the flavor and the character of the university,” Trustee Joel Ferguson said, happy with the plan as it was presented. “We really want to preserve our good work.”
MSU officials created the 2020 Vision to replace the university’s 35-year-old master plan.
The first component of the new plan includes planning transportation, parking and open space preservation, while the second component plans for facilities and land use. The ongoing final component splits the campus into districts so that each new project can be planned and executed individually.
“It’s a work in progress,” said Fred Poston, vice president for Finance and Operations. “We’re going to pass a master plan as any municipality would.”
While few of the proposed changes to campus are guaranteed - no money has been found to carry out any of the projects - the trustees still feel it is necessary to approve the plan as soon as possible.
“People may disagree about who should coach the football team and such, but everybody agrees on what we’re doing here right now,” Trustee Dee Cook said. “This is an extraordinary opportunity to make a contribution.”
Jamie Gumbrecht can be reached at gumbrec1@msu.edu.
