???Students, faculty, and members of the Buffalo community came together Wednesday to view the future of UB's campuses and to voice their opinions about the growth of UB 2020.
???New physical plans shown at the forum revealed many high-profile additions, including a larger Academic Spine and a new connection between North Campus and the Ellicott Complex comprised of shops and eateries.
???The building process will be broken into four phases.
???The focus of the first phase is moving the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences from North Campus to South Campus. President John Simpson said he hopes to complete the first phase within four to five years.
???The second phase involves moving the Law School and the School of Social Work from North Campus to South Campus.
???Building up the campus community and life on campus are central aspects of the third phase, as well as moving the School of Public Health and Health Professions to the Downtown Campus. Moving the School of Dental Medicine to the Downtown Campus is the final phase.
???Simpson opened the forum before leaving for Washington, D.C., where he will be working with government officials to get more support for the plans.
???Although some people question the funding for the massive project, Simpson explained that New York politicians and SUNY administrators only think in the short term, whereas UB 2020 looks in the long term.
???"I don't know what turns will exist in the road in the decade ahead, but I don't want to lose sight of the future," Simpson said.
???Robert Shibley, the senior adviser to Simpson for campus planning and design and professor of architecture, took the stage after Simpson discussed the ways each campus will be improving.
???According to Shibley, North Campus will grow from 6.6 million to 9.9 million square feet with the addition of a thickened Academic Spine and the new spine between Ellicott Complex and North Campus.
???Frank Bland, an architect on the project, believes that it is necessary to "calm down the high speed traffic" on the J.J. Audubon Parkway by adding roundabouts and insert more pedestrian walkways. He discussed plans to turn Putnam Way into a pedestrian-only zone.
???Bland also discussed moving The Commons and the University Bookstore to better utilize the area by Lake LaSalle. The land will be used for recreational purposes, such as building an all-year garden and providing facilities for students to ice skate on the lake in the winter.
???There are additional plans to add more recreational areas to all three campuses.
???The movement of schools from North Campus to South Campus will help increase the South Campus from 2.7 million square feet to 5.8 million square feet and help provide room for the additional 1,000 students that will be moving to the campus.
???South Campus will become the main campus for graduate studies.
???It will be upgraded by removing all on-campus temporary buildings and moving the School of Architecture into one building, according to discussions in the forum.
???Despite these additions, Bland believes it is important to embrace the historical significance of South Campus. He plans on keeping the same walkway axes that E.B. Green originally designed for the campus in 1910.
???Improvements to the Downtown Campus will increase the area from 0.5 million square feet to 4.1 million square feet. The movement of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Studies and School of Nursing, with the creation of new centers of research, will make this growth possible.
???The audience was allowed to share their thoughts in the presentation by answering questions with digital clickers.
???Approximately 84 percent of the audience felt that transit connection between all the campuses was extremely important.
???Shibley agreed that university needs a system where students can travel to all three campuses with a one-seat service, but no serious plans have been made.
???Parking was another major concern, especially after plans mentioned that buildings would be constructed where there are currently parking lots.
???"That is a huge [concern] for everyone," said Rhonda Grapes, project manager for University Facilities. "As a staff member, we are concerned that we will be told we can't use our personal vehicles."
???However, there are plans that involve cutting back the number of people that will need parking.
???"We hope to invoke a series of transit demand management strategies that will reduce the need for parking by 10 percent," Shibley said.
???Shibley plans on accommodating more structure parking and less surface parking.
???Forty-three percent of the audience agreed that the plans reflect good decisions for both economic growth and environmental stewardship.
???"For each dollar invested by the state, it will receive $5 to $7 back," Shibley said.
???There are many challenges all at the same time but each one is solvable, according to Shibley
???"There shouldn't be anything that should be allowed to stop us," Shibley said.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
