As published in Toledo Business Journal - September 1, 2010
BGSU master plan
BGSU master plan
to
invest $200M+
Bowling Green State University’s (BGSU) master plan is continuing to take shape and is expected to invest more than $200 million in northwest Ohio. According to BGSU, its master planning process for the Bowling Green campus integrates previously conducted planning studies; provides a framework for additional analytical work that has never been performed for the university; and brings together key administrative, faculty, and student leaders to develop a unified plan for the physical development of campus.
The two biggest master plan projects currently in progress are the $35 million Stroh Center and $41 million Wolfe Center for the Arts.
Additionally, plans were completed approximately a year ago for South Central Residence Hall and Northwest Residence Hall projects, which will hold a total of about 1,300 students. Both residence hall projects broke ground in April and have target completion dates of August 2011.
The $10.5 million McDonald Dining Hall and Commons Dining Facility projects are in progress as well.
Future master plan projects will include the repurposing of three historic campus buildings: Hannah, Mosely, and University Halls. South Hall will also be repurposed. All four buildings will be gutted and converted into next generation teaching and learning facilities to include classrooms, offices, and collaborative learning space.
“The older buildings have been studied, and they are structurally sound,” explained Steven Krakoff, BGSU associates vice president for capital planning. “Our plan, in most cases, is to gut the buildings. We’ll keep some of the spaces of some of those buildings.”
For example, the theater in Hanna Hall will remain intact.
Krakoff added, “We anticipate that the entire project will be one of the more exciting adaptive reuse projects in the Midwest when we undertake it. So, that’s huge.”
“It is an exciting time to be on the Bowling Green campus,” stated Carol A. Cartwright, BGSU president. “Over the next few years, you’ll see major renovations begin on our academic buildings…and new residence halls will be opening as soon as the fall of 2011.”
BGSU will also be doing work to improve its provision of student services, including undergraduate and graduate admissions, student financial aid, and academic advising and tutoring. All of these services will be located in areas more accessible and convenient for students and more contemporary in their design and delivery, according to Krakoff. The work is designed to improve campus gateways, access and circulation, green space, landscape, and parking.
“You’re going to see a few hundred million dollars put into this campus, some of which started a year ago and will carry through for about seven to eight more years,” Krakoff explained. Some of the investment is contingent on State capital funding.
He noted that the project would result in tremendous job opportunities, especially for construction trades and professional services.
“It will probably be one of the more active areas of construction in northwest Ohio over the next five to ten years,” Krakoff stated.
Key to the development of the campus master plan is ensuring that it is completely aligned with, and responsive to, the university’s strategic and academic plans, BGSU’s enrollment and retention strategy, the Connecting the Undergraduate Experience initiative, financial capabilities, and other foundational activities that will guide the institution over the coming years.
The process began with a series of interviews with key administrative and faculty leaders to develop an understanding of master plan opportunities and a scorecard for the success of the project. An Executive Steering Committee and a broadly representative Master Plan Steering Committee serve as the focal points for study and analysis, generation of, and reaction to master plan options and formation of plan priorities and recommendations. Focused working groups are addressing such matters as academic space programming and building investment.
Technical studies that inform the master planning process include: facility and infrastructure conditions, traffic and parking analysis, space utilization, and pedestrian and vehicular circulation. Recommendations from BGSU’s Residence Life and Dining Services Master Plan as well as the Infrastructure Master Plan are being integrated into the campus master plan.
Using BGSU enrollment strategies, registrar scheduling data, curricular and academic strategy, and discussions with academic leadership and staff, the master plan process will develop recommendations for the quantity, type, and distribution of next generation teaching / learning and student / life spaces.
Specific recommendations will address key physical elements of the Bowling Green campus. These include campus organization and zoning, circulation and access, open space, parking demand and supply, and gateways.
A priority setting process will balance capital availability with the strategic need and benefit of possible master plan opportunities. The Executive and Steering committees, aided by the work of task forces and other groups, will make recommendations for campus modernization, renovation and replacement of buildings, next generation teaching and learning spaces, investments to correct deferred maintenance needs, and enhancements to the university’s physical environment (e.g., landscaping, open space, and gateways).