By the mid-1990’s, many but not all of the goals and objectives of the 1970 Campus Development Plan had been realized.  Closing West Michigan Avenue to eliminate through traffic and limit pedestrian/vehicle conflicts was a critical and timely choice. 

The majority of properties east of Howard Street were acquired by the University, as was some State Hospital property south of Oliver Street.  (This included the acquisition of the Montague House, which was placed on the National Historic Register in 1983.) 

In 1974, President John T. Bernhard was moved into a newly purchased residence on Short Road near Wheaton Avenue.

As the need for campus housing decreased, the surplus residences halls were converted to office and research space.  New construction included the Dalton Center, Schneider Hall and the University Computing Center. 

There were several major renovation and expansion projects of academic facilities, notably of Wood Hall, the Student Recreation Center, and Waldo Library.  Altogether these projects resulted in total assigned academic spaces of 2,600,000 square feet, an eighty percent increase since 1970. 

Virtually all academic departments are located on West Campus, although not within the tight academic core defined in 1970.  Many academic programs are fragmented, with classrooms, offices, and labs widely scattered in different locations.  Related service departments are often not in proximity, resulting in multiple stops for customers.

Goldsworth Valley has been maintained as recreation and green space, with intramural fields and a small pavilion. 

Landscaping and pedestrian walkways, mature stands of trees, and rolling hillsides are defining features of the Main Campus, and make the University unique.  

However, similar care and consideration was not given to the appearance of constructed campus elements – buildings, entry points or “gateways”, transition spaces, and vistas.

Dr. Diether H. Haenicke;
President from August 1, 1985 to
July 31, 1998

In general, East Campus buildings are of marginal soundness and require major renovation for future significant use.  Most of the East Campus buildings are being used as surge space for various academic programs and as designated locations for specialty functions such as the Regional Archives. 

President Deither H. Haenicke initiated the successful renovations of Walwood Union in 1992 and Oakland Recital Hall (also called The Little Theatre) in 1997.

Dr. Elson S. Floyd;
President from August 1, 1998 to January 5, 2003

Two developments in the late 1990’s caused considerable changes in campus planning for the University. 

In 1998 the property of the Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital on Oakland Drive was transferred to Western Michigan University from the State of Michigan’s Department of Community Health.  Including over 100 acres, of which 53 acres would be leased back for the continued use of the Hospital, this acquisition provided the University the opportunity of planning for new College of Health and Human Services facilities and related clinic and research space, and for new student housing.

The new Oakland Drive Campus, bounded by Howard Street, Oakland Drive, Stadium Drive, and Oliver Street, once again locates major academic programs on both sides of the Stadium Drive/railroad track barrier, raising circulation and safety issues for pedestrian and vehicle traffic between and around the campuses. 

The transfer included two structures on the National Registry: the Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower and the Gate House.

In January 1999, President Elson S. Floyd and the Board of Trustees approved the development of a new campus (the Parkview Campus) on the Lee Baker Farm property, three miles west of the Main Campus, for the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a Business, Technology and Research Park. 

At the same time the Aviation Sciences Department, located in Battle Creek, Michigan, was made the School of Aviation Sciences.

In 1998 the University was recognized as a graduate intensive university by the Michigan Legislature, and has recently been recognized by the Carnegie Foundation as one of the nation’s top public research universities.

Western Michigan University currently enrolls close to 30,000 students on its Main Campus and seven Regional Centers.  It is the fourth largest university in the state. Main Campus is comprised of over 600 acres, including the Oakland Drive Campus, and the Parkview Campus contains 276 acres.  Additional outlying properties total over 500 acres. 

The University maintains 136 buildings, totaling over seven million square feet, more than 16 miles of roadways and 40 miles of walkways.