Parkview Campus Master Plan ~ 2000
Back to Campus History Back to Planning History Main Page
In 1998 Western Michigan University received proposals from the cities of
Kalamazoo and Battle Creek for locating and constructing a new classroom and
research building for the College of Engineering and
Applied Sciences, and for relocating the paper pilot plant housed in McCracken Hall. The Battle Creek proposal placed the new facilities near
the existing WMU School of Aviation Sciences in Battle Creek.
The city of
Kalamazoo proposal, which President Elson S. Floyd accepted, located the new
facilities on the University's Lee Baker Farm. A portion of the land was to
be developed as a research and technology park with research ties to the University,
and the Asylum Lake property to the north would be reserved for passive recreation
uses.
Plans for developing the Lee Baker Farm were quite extensive. The site had
no usable existing utilities or roads. The city committed to improving the
local access to the site; the anticipated increase in traffic required the
upgrade and widening of Parkview Avenue and Drake Road.
In order to minimize
the environmental impact on the adjacent neighborhoods, the university committed
to "buffering" development of the property with 70 acres of no-build
zone between the campus and the Parkview residential neighborhood. The university
also committed to minimizing 'light pollution', enforcing environmentally
responsible landscaping standards, and collecting and filtering all stormwater
runoff before allowing it to drain into the watershed.
MASTER PLAN REPORT (ABRIDGED) PDF
Selected Pages below
individual pages reproduced for better readability:Other Information
City
Map; Parkview Campus Area
