Hard hats, backhoes, dump trucks and cranes will be a common sight on campus in the years ahead.
From new student and employee neighborhoods to state-of-the-art research institutes, UC Davis is developing plans for new classrooms, lecture halls, research laboratories, infrastructure, offices and living space over the next decade.
To get a preview of the evolving campus landscape, members of the campus and community are encouraged to attend a public workshop Monday, April 21, in Freeborn Hall on campus from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Attendees will have a chance to review the university’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) and draft Environmental Impact Report. A 60-day public review period of the LRDP and draft environmental impact report begins on April 28 and ends June 26, with a formal public hearing slated for June 2. All workshops are free and open to the public.
Campus growth in the decade ahead may include more than 50 new buildings, renovations and utility upgrades valued at $1 billion. About 30 percent of these projects will be financed by state funds, with the rest from a mix of private, research-related, student-support, and gift funds.
To provide a framework for growth, all UC campuses prepare long-range development plans. UC Davis is in the third and final year of developing this plan, which is based on feedback from campus committees, UC Davis leadership team members and previous public meetings held during the last two years. The environmental review and LRDP are expected to be submitted to the UC Board of Regents to be considered for approval in the fall of 2003.
The LRDP will guide UC Davis land use through 2015-16. During this period the campus will experience Tidal Wave II, an unprecedented growth spurt in the UC system. At Davis alone, the total on-campus population could grow to just over 50,000. By 2015-16, the campus will add about 5,130 new students and 2,500 new faculty and staff above the 2001-02 academic year totals.
“Our road map in designing physical development is based on the UC Davis academic plan,” said John Meyer, UC Davis vice chancellor for resource management and planning. “The academic plan builds on existing campus strengths, and as a result, our facility expansions will address the demands of our educational mission as a campus.”
He suggests that campus and community members attend the April 21 workshop. “This preview meeting is an opportunity for people to receive an overview of the draft plan and environmental impact report, and we welcome their feedback.”
Meyer noted the irony of a construction boom during tough fiscal times, saying that because large projects are in the planning and design phase for several years, sometimes money appropriated in strong economic times doesn’t get spent until the economy has slowed. In addition, capital funds can only be spent on construction projects, he said, and not used for other purposes.
Three major goals
Meyer said the LRDP aims to create a unique educational environment by focusing on three major goals, Meyer said. One is to provide “stewardship” over the management of UC Davis’ vast array of diverse resources within the campus environment. Two, the campus seeks to create the physical infrastructure that encourages “diverse and dynamic” academic programs. Three, it’s important to promote an atmosphere of respect, productivity and personal growth within the university’s environmental and agricultural heritage.
Meyer said the number of new faculty hired at UC Davis over the next eight years could reach up to 500. This takes money and resources, and so the campus is planning carefully for what to be built on the campus, the timing of that construction and securing the necessary dollars to fund it.
One of the areas on campus that will expand significantly is the health sciences district. Here the university will add 321,000 square feet and spend an estimated $238 million. The entire LRDP calls for adding 2.5 million square feet in academic and administrative space.
About one-third of the campus’s $1 billion in new buildings will be provided by the state — and several million will be paid for directly by students, a product of the Facilities and Campus Enhancement initiative. Planners note, however, that due to the national and state economy, building plans may be delayed and perhaps even scaled back in some instances.
The 2003 LRDP will be used as the basis for many projects, including the:
• Neighborhood Master Plan: The campus is considering developing a residential neighborhood on a site west of State Route 113 and south of Russell Boulevard. It would include student, faculty, and staff housing, recreation fields, a community education center, locally serving commercial services, and an elementary school facility.
• Research Park Master Plan: The plan would include a total of about 38 acres to the north and south of Interstate 80 and west of Old Davis Road for research park facilities. Private, public and non-profit entities could operate in the research park, thus increasing opportunities for collaboration, research, and teaching at UC Davis.
• Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science: Current plans call for the institute to be located on Old Davis Road just west of the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. The complex will include an academic building (with classrooms, laboratories, offices and meeting rooms), a teaching and research winery, and a food science lab.
• Multi-Use Stadium Complex: The proposed complex would include an outdoor stadium with seating for 15,000 to 18,000 spectators, lighted practice fields, and an administrative center, located east of State Route 113, south of Hutchison Drive and west of La Rue Road.
Raising a village
In response to comments regarding the previous plan’s alternative, the university prepared a more compact alternative for the proposed residential neighborhood that would encompass about 220 acres of land. This latest version is reduced from prior plans of 380 and 260 acres. It would still result in a transit-oriented, bicycle-friendly community.
“The community influenced this approach through constructive criticism of our earlier plans,” Meyer said. “We think this option responds to many of those suggestions. As the university grows it strives to be a good neighbor.”
He added it helps that the city of Davis is supportive of the campus providing more residential development, especially for students. In the neighborhood, about 3,000 students could be housed, and 500 faculty and staff units could be built. The range of housing types proposed includes family units, townhouses, cottages and apartments.
Meyer said exciting aspects of the new neighborhood include a proposed educational center with the Los Rios Community College District and the Davis Joint Unified School District, frequent and direct Unitrans and numerous bike and pedestrian paths connections to the campus core. The master plan also includes a public safety station for police and fire services, elementary school, village square, ponds, recreational fields, open space and wide sidewalks.
The neighborhood would employ, from the beginning, all of the latest and best concepts regarding transportation, the environment and sustainability, Meyer said. He said campus planners recognize that the character of the city of Davis is important to the university as well. Its school system and its “college town” feel are attractive to current and potential employees and students. Campus plans are aimed at retaining and even improving upon that quality of life, he said.
“We’re using this challenge of getting bigger as an opportunity to get better,” Meyer said.