Master plan presented to public
The administration decided to add the nursing department from McAfee Gym to the Physical Science building in the master plan.
This was a new decision presented Wednesday.
Eastern’s overall master plan that will be sent to the Board of Trustees for approval was presented to the public at a forum in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
The board will receive the finalized plan on Nov. 19 and will vote on the plan to approve it or not in January.
The master plan is looked at and revised every five years.
Brandon Lipman, who is part of Loebl Schlossman & Hackl, the firm in charge of developing the Master Plan, presented the plan and showed pictures of what campus could look like in years to come.
“(The forum) is a confirmation of what we talked about before,” Lipman said.
The plan includes the building of a new science building that is to be built in what is now known as the tundra, the open field east of Andrews and Thomas Halls. This building will house the chemistry and biology departments as well as the greenhouse.
Jeff Conroy, senior space programmer, said the building will hopefully be a 170,000 square foot building and an $80 million project. However, he said this project may be completed in pieces.
The current Physical Science Building will house the psychology, physics, geology/geography, and the nursing departments.
“Consolidating all the sciences makes sense,” said Conroy.
The Life Science Building will lose its annex and will house the math, economics and political science departments in order to give departments in Coleman more room, Conroy said.
Another major project will be to convert the current coal plant into office space, as well as add to it.
This will house financial aid, enrollment management, technology support and other support departments. The project also includes demolishing the current Student Services Building.
Conroy said the plan has to be completed in a specific order so that other parts of the plan can take place.
“Chemistry has to move out of (the) Physical Science (Building) first,” Conroy said. “The new building has to be built before that can happen.”
Treasurer Paul McCann said this plan will 10 to 15 years to actually start the process of completing projects.
“The real problem is getting the money,” McCann said. “(The plan) is a vision for the future.”
If the trustees approve the plan, this will give Eastern an opportunity to start looking for funding for the projects in the campus plan.
“It’s a matter of finding somebody. to put money with the project,” McCann said.
Loebl Schlossman & Hackl is not the firm working on the athletic part of the Master Plan. This meant that only the academic side of the plan was presented to the forum.
Courtney Bruner can be reached at 581-7942 or
