By Michael Kennedy
A new student recreation center, soccer stadium, new residence halls and academic buildings could be the landscape of the University of Louisville in 20 years. Meanwhile, familiar buildings like Ernst Hall, Miller Hall, Crawford Gym and the Interfaith Center could all be gone. The university unveiled its master plan Thursday, Nov. 12. And big changes are on the horizon.
The master plan is largely conceptual, and has an estimated $1.1 billion in improvements to be made to the Belknap Campus. It addresses U of L’s current space shortage, calling for U of L to more than double its current building space. Under the plan, U of L would acquire 141 acres, in every direction. On Nov. 12, the Board of Trustees voted to approve the plan.
According to U of L Provost Shirley Willihnganz, U of L will likely be breaking the plan into phases of three to five years each. The highest priority is a new academic building. It is projected to cost $75 million, and will likely be built in front of the Natural Sciences Building. Renovation of the Natural Sciences Building, expected to cost over $20 million, is also a high priority.
There will also be a center promenade, with a fountain, in front of the new academic building. According to Willihnganz, new pathways would make navigating campus easier.
“When we put new pathways in, we would try to put it in so that rainwater would wash off into a lot more rain gardens, so that the pavement itself would absorb more water, so that we wouldn’t get quite as much flooding every time it rains,” Willihnganz said.
Some students have raised concerns about the price tag of the plan. Chris Allen, a sophomore engineering major, said he thinks the university should focus its resources more on academics and research, rather than new construction and property acquisition. Since most students are commuters, he said he thinks campus improvements shouldn’t be so important.
“They always talk about rankings and everything,” said Allen. “But when it comes down to it, there are a lot of universities that have better rankings in a lot of different areas than us. If they could just keep improving the education side, maybe add even more majors, I kind of lean more towards that kind of stuff.”
Student Government Association President O.J. Oleka said it’s good to have a master plan, and something tangible he can show students who ask where their tuition dollars are going. As SGA president, Oleka is on the Board of Trustees. He voted for the plan, and praised the student initiatives within it.
“This is going to be the fruits of your money and the university’s labor,” Oleka said of the master plan.
One of those student initiatives is a student recreation center to be built to the south of Kurz Hall. It could have a fitness center and student gathering space. Students seem divided about the merits of a new recreation center on campus.
Oleka said the recreation center is the top priority for SGA in the master plan. Willihnganz said she thinks it makes sense to build the recreation center there, since that’s where new student housing is being built. Oleka said he likes the location, and that it’s the best option, considering the current space that U of L has. He said a student fee could be implemented to fund the recreation center, depending on student response. A student fee was added prior to the construction of the Student Activities Center—a fee students still pay.
“Everyone complains about how awful that little space in the SAC is, and how we want more intramural fields…just more places to hang out and do more things,” Oleka said. “At some point, we’ve got to pay for that.”
“If students say, ‘We’re willing to take on this new fee, this new burden, for the sake of improving our campus and getting the unity that a recreational center could bring,’ then that’s what we would advocate for,” Oleka said. “But if they are not saying it, then we won’t advocate for it.”
Freshman exercise science major Crystal Thurston said she is unsure how she feels about building a new recreation center. She lives in Kurz Hall, and said she exercises every day, but she is reluctant to support a new student fee.
“The SAC does the job,” said Thurston. “It gives me everything I need. But sometimes I just don’t want to walk all the way to the SAC to get a little exercise in. It sounds like a really good idea, but I know I wouldn’t want to pay even more money, because college is already expensive enough.”
The Province and The Bellamy are two new student developments built to the west of campus, near the proposed location of the recreation center. Both were built by private developers, and The Province was built in tandem with U of L. In the short term, Willihnganz expects the university to continue partnerships with private entities to build student housing, but said the university would like to build more of its own residence halls in the future.
“In the short term, when money is this tight, if we wanted to go to the state, it’s probably better to ask for an academic building, and work with private partners to get another residence hall up, than ask for money for a residence hall and then not be able to get money for an academic building,” said Willihnganz.
Some concerns were raised that the master plan does not adequately provide for on-campus parking for students, but neither Willihnganz nor Oleka seemed concerned.
“I think anywhere you currently park, you should still be able to,” Willihnganz said. “But the thought is still to try to reduce the number of cars on campus.”
Mark Hebert, U of L spokesman, shared this sentiment about reducing cars on campus.
“They’re trying to close the campus a little bit better, trying to encourage folks to ride their bikes, and to get as many cars as possible off the center part of campus,” said Hebert.
The master plan does call for the construction of new parking decks, but some of those spaces will be for visitors, according to Willihnganz.
“All of this is so far in the future that I think those will all be discussions we’ll have later,” Willihnganz said about on-campus parking. “But we’ll work that out as we go.”
To create space for these new buildings, U of L must acquire surrounding properties. Willihnganz said that the university would negotiate with owners who put parcels of land on the market, or with owners ready to sell. U of L would be unlikely to use imminent domain to force landowners out of their properties, she said.
“At the moment, we already have the 23 acres behind Speed School,” Willihnganz said. “A lot of what the master plan is talking about is things that are in the core of campus, that we can start on as soon as we’re able to. As we talk about buying these parcels of land, they’re probably five to 10 years out for most of those.”
The plan lists 14 buildings at the core of campus that are to be removed, and an additional six as potential removals. The plan proposes positioning buildings more efficiently, and removing inefficient buildings.
“We have two space problems on campus,” said Willihnganz. “One space problem is that we don’t have enough space. The second problem is that some of the space we have really isn’t good for what we’re trying to do with it.”
Some buildings are expected to be combined with others, to make more efficient use of space. But since U of L is so short on space, buildings would have to be built before any others could be torn down, according to Willihnganz.
“At the moment, we are so short of space, and short of money, we really can’t afford to tear down anything we’ve got, because we really need to use it,” said Willihnganz.
New buildings built on the edges of the expansion are expected to be taller than existing buildings, possibly reaching seven stories in height. By building upward, U of L can free up more green space, Willihnganz said.
“That gives us more nature; we don’t have a lot of nature anymore,” said Thurston. “If we continue to build bigger buildings outward, then we’ll lose even more green space, more trees and more nature.”
Sustainability is a key concern of the master plan, and it calls for substantially more green space. Willihnganz said she expects the green spaces will have water, natural grasses and trees.
“A lot of those sustainability areas are where we just wanted to create green space, and not cram in building after building, so that it felt like you were really in an urban jungle, rather than a nice campus,” said Willihnganz.
The plan also details major changes to Floyd Street. It calls for changes similar to those currently being done on Eastern Parkway. When completed, Floyd Street will be two lanes, with two bicycle lanes, and a median with an ornamental fence.
With Kentucky facing more budget cuts, and the university raising tuition, Willihnganz said funding to implement the master plan is the main concern. Right now, the university is prioritizing the parts of the plan, and identifying where there are possible sources of funds. Funding for the academic building could come from the state, the promenade and fountains could come from private donations, and the Floyd Street construction could come from the Transportation Cabinet, according to the plan.
While the Board of Trustees has approved the plan, it would also have to approve any future construction. Locations of the buildings could change, as could the order of the construction projects.
“You don’t just pay for this so it can be a piece of paper you can stick in a drawer,” said Willihnganz. “It really is our intention to move forward with this as we can. What we will move forward with will be determined by what our immediate needs are, where we think we can find funding, and where space becomes available.”
No matter what happens, the master plan has brought a sense of excitement to campus.
“I think we’re going to have a lot of progress in the next 20 years,” said Thurston. “It’s going to be for the better.”
