University of Utah Student Newspapers--The Chronicle | 2007-11-30 | Page 7

7 PMENT Friday, November 30,2007 U health sciences to develop in— eepfor ving Jonathan Ng STAFF WRITER Proposed changes to the U golf course To accommodate an increasing focus on the sciences at the U, the new campus master plan calls for the health sciences campus to be expanded. The health sciences area will grow to meet infrastructure needs that will accompany expansions in both clinical and academic research. Because the campus is located at a highly constrained site, the topography is also a large concern, having the natural boundary of the Wasatch Mountains to the north and east and student housing to the south. A large part of the expansion plan is to make more room to accommodate changing needs regarding inpatient care. "The purpose is to expand capacity for our patients and families," said Dan Lundergan, executive director of the U Hospital. "Our goal is to convert semi-private rooms to private rooms." There are 70 semi-private rooms in the hospital now. David Entwistle, CEO of the U's Hospitals and Clinics, said the new rooms will be a bit larger,, and the hospital will end up with about 30 more beds. The hospital lobby will be expanded to accommodate inpatients and make more room for their families. "When this building was built in the '80s, care was much different," Entwistle said. "Families are much more involved (now)." The hospital expansion is expected to be completed in December 2009. As part of the expansion, the hospital will receive a new cafeteria that is "desperately needed," Entwistle said. The Huntsman Cancer Hospital will also face restructuring. "The Huntsman Hospital is going to expand by 50 beds to accommodate the growth and, unfortunately, the demand for cancer patients," Lundergan said. Construction should begin in the next one to two years, with a projected completion date sometime within two to three years. Accommodations for other clinical areas such as the rehabilitation unit will also be met. A new ambulatory building will be constructed. The facility will complement the already established community clinics. Although the exact building location is not determined, Research Park is being considered. "We are weighing options right now," Lundergan said. "We are working closely with the main campus planning." The School of Medicine will also be restructured for academic needs. "We know for a fact that the School of Medicine building has to be replaced at some time in the future," Lundergan said. There are no immediate plans for the building. Lundergan said he wants to see the campus master plan before doing any further planning. The plan should be completed within the next few months. [e-mail] Student housing grows to meet rising demand Michael McFall STAFF WRITER With the Residence Halls and apartments nearly filled to capacity, the U plans to expand on-campus living to meet students' demands. The campus master plan proposes construction at four different sites: student apartments at the University Village, the Medical Towers and around the Stadium TRAX stop and residence halls near the Annex Building by the Huntsman Center. The Medical Towers and potentially the University Village will be remodeled, and the housing proposed for the Stadium TRAX stop and Annex area will be new construction. Waiting lists for existing campus apartments can range from several months at University Village to a year at the Medical Towers, said Clint Simmons, office assistant for student apartments. The current remodeling of the Medical Towers apartments lowers the living space for students by about 67 units, Simmons said. Construction should be finished around July 2008, which will help alleviate the long wait and student demand. In the Residence Halls, about 98 percent of rooms are occupied, and single- student shared apartments are about 93 percent full. By 2016, there will be 257 more students enrolled on campus without room to live, according to a projected estimate by the master plan consulting firm. Student apartments in the west half of the stadium parking lot should not only create more room for students but make transportation accessibility more convenient, said Eric Browning, a U campus planner. Parking space will be provided underneath the new residential buildings. Tentative plans to build commercial and educational buildings in the stadium parking lot have been proposed, as well. Plans for residence halls at the Annex are vague. The company does not have a sure idea about whether the halls would be constructed around the Annex, near it or in place of it. The future locations of the English Language Institute, parks, recreation and tourism department and other groups that use the Annex have not been discussed. There hasn't been a discussion of the cost of building the new residence halls and apartments because plans are still in preliminary stages. Private contractors have not been contacted, Perez said [e-mail],edu A NOII: FROM THE NEWS r JAI"[- What is the campus master plan? j During the next 20 years, the campus i.will be undergoing an extreme make4 over: U edition. 6-' Administrators are working with consulting firm Skidmore Owings and Merrill, LLP to create a proposal, called the campus master plan, to shape the physical nature of the U over the next two decades. The plan looks at land use, transportation, building projects, parking and development on campus. < Skidmore Owings and Merrill is involved mostly with the U facilities planning department, but has sought input from the community and people on campus. Organizers have hosted community forums about the master plan since formal planning started in March 2007. U President Michael Young started the master plan initiative in 2005. Campus planner Eric Browning said the master plan is a natural part of development at the U, The last campus master plan was created in 1997. "It's standard procedure to check the pulse of where the U is headed, and how the physical reflects the academic mission," Browning said. The plan is still in the works, but Browning said things will be resolved by the beginning of next year. The plan will be "fluid" so the U can update it as needed, he said. "We're all excited about the future, but it's a 20-ycar horizon and will happen little by little," he said. Rochelle McConkie ILLUSTRATION BY JENNY ELKIHS/TheDcihUtahOi is needed in Research Park is- area as one of sev^lopment in the park, park only have sidethe street or have no Charles Evans, direcaid paths between rei area aren*t the best, gradually working to & and improve conare constructed and iking improvements U doesn't have cone park because it is research companies, ampus planner, said irilt in the 1970s, pecqnsidered. r-'-visioned as a place Id circle around," :'s definitely a lack of ity)." p e their gripes about development in the park. Groups have sometimes complained about construction near the shoreline trail on the east side of the park, most recently the site selected for the new Museum of Natural History. Rita Lund, who uses the trail to hike and walk her dogs, said the U has allowed development to move too high on the foothills, limiting access to trails. "The U has not been the best steward of the land," she said. "Every time one of these developments happens we have less access." Lund and other members of Friends Interested in Dogs and Open Space complained about the U's plans for the museum during a public comment period held for an Environmental Impact Statement conducted, but the museum is still set to be built on the site. Evans said the U has appeased many who were upset about the museum site by deciding to position the building in a way that would have less impact on the trail. Browning said the U has designed all land above the trail as a preserve and has committed to not develop above the 30degree slope on the foothills. Planners have also emphasized a need to create and improve roads connecting the park with other areas of campus. Only one campus road, which passes behind Fort Douglas, connects the two. Although plans aren't definite, Evans said the current road will likely be improved. He said in the future, if the U is able to purchase land from Fort Douglas, a more direct connection can be made. Prior campus plans called for a road to be built below Red Butte Garden, but the idea was ruled out because the garden's employees objected and it would require building a costly bridge, Evans said. With the new development in Research Park moving up the foothills, access to hiking trails such [e-mail] as the Bonneville Shoreline Trail has become more limited, ;