UWSP: campus master plan process begins

University Relations and Communications, 715-346-3046, Fax 715-346-2042, www.uwsp.edu/news

Linda Bunnell, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, announced that the consulting design firm Ken Saiki Design, Inc. is now under contract and ready to begin work on a new Master Plan for the campus.

The Saiki team has identified milestones and meetings set to occur over the next twelve months to complete the plan by December. A series of initial listening sessions will be held on campus Wednesday, Feb. 1, and Thursday, Feb. 2. A special evening session has been reserved to hear input from the Stevens Point community at an open meeting Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7:15 p.m. in Room 125 of the Dreyfus University Center. The public is invited to participate. Parking is available at no charge in all campus lots after 7 p.m.

According to Ken Saiki, the daytime listening sessions will focus on various topic areas such as facility space, landscaping, campus image, transportation, on-campus housing, outdoor athletics and recreation, safety and sustainability. The evening public forum is intended to gather information about campus issues affecting the community and vice-versa. Representatives of the city of Stevens Point, Portage County Business Council, Portage County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Saint Stanislaus and Newman Center Parishes, Mid-State Technical College, P.J. Jacobs Junior High School, and St. Michael’s/Ministry Health Care have been invited to participate. Local residential and commercial neighbors of the university are particularly encouraged to become involved.

Ken Saiki Design, Inc., an award-winning Madison-based firm specializing in landscape architectural design, has previously worked on the exterior campus plans for UW-Madison, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Green Bay and UW-Whitewater as well as other universities. To create UWSP’s plan, Saiki Design will lead a team of consultants, including Eppstein Uhen Architects of Milwaukee, TranSmart Technologies of Madison, and the national design firm of EDAW. Marsha Lea, a principal architect with EDAW, is a Stevens Point native and attended UWSP. Her father, Keith Lea, is a retired director of UWSP Technical Services.

The final outcome will be a long-range, overall plan which will incorporate recommendations on existing buildings, new facilities, exterior image improvements, landscaping, enhancement of pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle routes, a response to parking needs and on-campus residential facilities.

“The advantages to having a master plan is having a long-range forecast and placement of physical development needs that provide consistent design standards, a unique identity and a response to the campus mission,” says Carl Rasmussen, UWSP campus facilities planner.

“The cost of the plan is approximately $150,000, funded by campus funds, UWSP Residential Living and Parking Services,” he continued.

Portage County and the city of Stevens Point are in the final stages of documenting comprehensive plans; countywide planning for all municipalities is being coordinated through a Wisconsin Smart Growth initiative. The university is interested in completing this master plan effort in order to complement and coordinate with these local area plans.

UWSP’s last master plan was crafted in 1968 by Daverman Associates of Grand Rapids, Mich., and was based upon an enrollment projection of 13,200 students. A campus development plan prepared by UWSP staff in 1979 revised the projected student population to 8,000-9,000 and responded with updated land use and development priorities. Major building needs and other physical changes were identified and prioritized in subsequent plan updates in 1992, 1997 and 2004.

Questions can be directed to Rasmussen at (715) 346-2781 or crasmuss@uwsp.edu.