by Janae Savoy
The University of Maryland’s campus will be seeing some exciting changes in the near future! There are new plans to begin (or continue) several different construction projects on campus that will improve on-campus facilities and make the University of Maryland more attractive to top-notch faculty and students from all over the world. Overall, these construction projects will improve the QUALITY of our campus.
Edward St. John Learning & Teaching Center
One of the current construction projects that is going on is the St. John Learning and Teaching Center along Campus Drive across from Hornbake Plaza. With construction that is expected to be completed in December of 2016, this new building will provide classrooms that will service 10,000 students daily and will feature classrooms that facilitate collaborative learning. In addition, programs that focus highly on innovation, including the Teaching and Learning Transformation Center and the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, will be housed here as well. This building is the first building on campus that will be dedicated solely to classroom space, being able to accommodate upwards of 2,000 students at one time.
Sources:
http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/campus/article_12b12fc8-ce8b-11e3-b7b8-001a4bcf6878.html
http://www.clarkconstruction.com/our-work/projects/u-md-edward-st-john-learning-teaching-center
A. James Clark Hall
On November 23rd, university officials broke ground on A. James Clark Hall, a new building that will house this university’s Fischell Department of Bioengineering as well as the Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation. The 184,000 square foot space will be built behind the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building where the Paint Branch Parking Lot used to be. With construction beginning in June 2015 and slated to conclude in 2017, the building will have a lecture hall, six classrooms, labs, offices, and underground laboratories that will facilitate sophisticated studies that can be difficult to carry out above ground.
Sources:
http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/article_7250ccbe-1365-11e2-9312-0019bb30f31a.html
http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/article_67c38820-7373-11e4-b07c-074c9c15615d.html
Purple Line
The Purple Line is light rail line sponsored by the Maryland Transportation Administration that will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton, directly through the University of Maryland campus. The construction is projected to last from 2015 to 2020. According to the project’s website, the project will benefit the community economically and will allow for more efficient east-west travel. Once construction is completed, Campus Drive will be a one-way road, with light rail tracks running on both sides of the street. The proposed stops near campus are by the Stamp Student Union, the College Park Metro station, Adelphi Road and the new East Campus developments that will be built in the coming years.
Sources:
http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/campus/article_0e72b78a-a4ea-11e3-8504-001a4bcf6878.html
http://www.purplelinemd.com/en/
Proposed Cole Field House Changes
Plans are currently in the works to transform the historic Cole Field House into a state of the art $155 million dollar facility. Currently, construction is projected to begin in December 2015 and be completed by June 2018. The new facility will be comprised of three main parts: a new practice facility for the football team, a location for the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and the Center for Sports Medicine that will partner with the University of Maryland Medical School in Baltimore. These renovations would result in the loss of 700-800 parking spaces in Lot 1 and could result in the potential displacement of several on campus groups and events, which could be quite inconvenient for students. However, the renovations will not increase student fees and will see an increase in recruiting for the football team.
Sources:
http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/article_396492a6-74fb-11e4-9f0f-ab9af1d5290c.html
http://www.diamondbackonline.com/sports/article_31171c1a-7049-11e4-8e29-ff55c99e548d.html