Facilities master plan includes new building
BY ROBERTO PÉREZ
Staff Writer
The University is currently constructing a Facilities master plan, a guide for the next phase of the University’s campus development. One of the first initiatives will be the construction of an administrative building near campus, which will house mainly fundraising activities, among other administrative functions.
The University presented a sketch plan to East Buffalo Township officials in March. The proposal: a 37,000 square-foot office building along Smoketown Road at Abbey Lane, south of the university’s Golf Course. According to the sketch plan, the building would house 120 University employees and an open parking lot with 135 spaces.
"The building’s primary purpose will be to house the University relations staff, which is spread across four or five locations on campus right now and encompasses people dedicated to fundraising and related activities," said Pete Mackey, the newly appointed chief communications officer. "It would also be used for swing space for departments undergoing on-campus renovations on their facilities and an on-campus site for certain redundancy needs [or backups] in the information services office."
This is not the only site being considered to house the new facilities.
Meridian Development Partners, LLC, a New York property developer, recently approached the University with the idea of developing a portion of the old Pennsylvania House Furniture site, located between Saint Mary’s Road and Route 15.
The 45 acre industrial property had been vacant for over a year, since Pennsylvania house, the former owner, moved its manufacturing facilities to China. This changed when Meridian bought the site, in order to make it the host of various projects, such as recreational areas and— University permitting—educational purposes.
"If we can get Bucknell to build here, it gives us an anchor tenant that would serve as a catalyst for the redevelopment of the property," said Howard A. Weitzman, principal with Meridian, in The Daily Item last week.
The University is considering the option. Along with the designs for the Smoketown Road location, there are also sketches for the Meridian site.
Overall, Union County officials have been very pleased with the idea. Since the Pennsylvania House site is located in the middle of a very populated part of town, they feel that bringing people in that part of the city will be beneficial.
"The Buffalo Township is certainly behind it. We all look at it as the branching out of Bucknell into the community," said Steve Hall, head of the Union County Industrial Development Corporation. "It would be an excellent situation. Nobody wanted it to go back as an industrial site."
This project is just one component of the master plan being developed by the administration and responds to all the physical needs the campus might have.
"In building those plans, we typically look at things such as classrooms, laboratory space, facilities, faculty offices, administrative space, campus pathways for visitors, your relationship with your neighbors alongside the campus, the quality of the ground," Mackey said. "All those sorts of things make up the physical environment for the living, learning and working environment of the campus."
The neighbors agree.
"I do feel that these people are doing it for the best interest of the community," Hall said.
Another possible initiative is to hire a master planner.
"[A master planner] is an outside expert who assists the administration in developing a plan," Mackey said. The selection process is already being carried out, and is due to be completed within the next few months.
For this venture, Mackey underlines the importance of the involvement of the whole campus community.
"The Facilities master plan will be developed with the board of trustees, faculty, staff and students. They’re all going to help shape this plan," Mackey said. The new building is due to be completed between 12 to 18 months from now.
"We’re planning it now, with the idea that the staff be able to move in within this time," Mackey said.
However, the definitive site has not yet been chosen.
"We’re trying to make this decision within the next couple of months," Mackey said.
