The changing face of the East Campus

he skyline near the Bingham Group residence halls is changing as the campus building boom spreads eastward across College Avenue to the East Campus, the Veterinary Medicine complex and beyond.

The encroachment of new structures on the East Campus began with the Life Sciences Center on Rollins Street just west of College Avenue, and with the Virginia Avenue Housing & Dining Facility and the College Avenue Pedestrian Bridge. All were completed in time for the 2004 fall semester.

At the northeast corner of the Rollins Street/College Avenue intersection, a plaza is under construction at the southwest corner of Sanborn Field, the oldest agriculture experiment field west of the Mississippi. The plaza will memorialize scientific achievements over the years on this registered National Historic Landmark. The plaza will function not only as an historic and informational site for visitors, but also as a “stacking area” for assembly of students waiting to cross busy College Avenue on the way to and from class in the central campus.

The East Campus is the focal point for much of MU's future development. Photo courtesy of Publications & Alumni Communications.

Campus construction will continue in December with groundbreaking for the National Swine Research & Resource Center to be located southeast of the Animal Science Research Center. In late February 2005, groundbreaking will occur just west of Eckles Hall for the College Avenue Housing facility directly across the street from the Sanborn Field memorial plaza. The next groundbreaking will be in October 2005 for the East Campus’ Regional Biocontainment Laboratory.

The university has identified a need for several more research-related facilities in the coming years and beyond and is aggressively seeking grants, donations and other funding sources to build them.

The following is a synopsis of structures completed this summer and others under construction or design, or being planned, that are changing the look of East Campus and its surround:

Completed Summer 2004

The Life Sciences Center will house scientists from the College of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources, School of Medicine, College of Arts & Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Engineering, and College of Human Environmental Sciences. The facilities will bring faculty together for interdisciplinary research, teaching, and outreach activities in genetic technologies.

The Virginia Avenue Housing & Dining Facility is the first phase in the implementation of the Residential Life Master Plan. This housing project consists of four buildings totaling 720 beds on the Virginia Field site and incorporates a blend of traditional single rooms, single and double semi-suite rooms, and support space for the Living Learning Community programs. The “Plaza 900,” a new 450-seat dining facility will serve the complex. Like previous dining facility renovations, the new facility will utilize a modified marketplace configuration, which incorporates an upscale, retail appearance with the capacity for display cooking.

The College Avenue Pedestrian Bridge over College Avenue connects the Virginia Avenue Housing and Dining Facility with Bingham Group and points east.

Under construction

The East/West Pedestrian Mall, running from College Avenue to the Arts & Science Mall, is being constructed in conjunction with other projects. The east section, starting at the College Avenue Pedestrian Bridge and running west to Virginia Avenue, is under construction as part of the Virginia Avenue Housing & Dining Facility project. The center section north of the Virginia Avenue Parking structure between Virginia Avenue and Hitt Street is complete. The western-most section between Hitt Street and the A&S Mall to the front of the Student Recreation Center Expansion project is under construction as part of the SRC Expansion and is scheduled for completion in January 2005.

To be constructed

The College Avenue Housing facility is an 83,000-gross-square-feet residence hall located on the east side of College Avenue and north of Hatch and Schurz halls. The structure will provide 328 new beds and is the termination point for the east side of the College Avenue Pedestrian Bridge. Construction is scheduled to begin late February 2005.

The National Swine Research & Resource Center, a 20,634- gross square feet, free-standing building located southeast of the Animal Science Research Center, will house 150-250 pigs of various ages and genetic mutations, along with associated laboratories and surgical suites. Availability of swine models to researchers nationwide via the N S R R C will lead to improved methods for diagnosis and treatment strategies, and ultimately cures for devastating human diseases. An already-proposed addition will double the project’s capacity. Construction is scheduled to begin December 2004.

The Regional Biocontainment Laboratory will be an approximately 9,796-net-square-feet, freestanding Bio-Safety Level 3 (B S L-3) building located southeast of the Animal Science Research Center. The facility will include research laboratories, a vivarium for housing small animals, necropsy rooms for small animals, and associated research-support areas. The facility will provide critical biocontainment facilities to conduct research and training focused on bioterrorism pathogens and will assist national, state, and local public health officials in the event of a bioterrorism emergency. Construction is scheduled to begin October 2005.

Planned projects

The Animal Resource Center will be a 17,450-gross-square-foot building containing animal holding rooms for non-rodent, animal-based research, located south of the Animal Science Research Center near the National Swine Research & Resource Center site. This project is identified as one of several in the campus-wide Vivarium Master Plan for meeting current needs and projected growth in life sciences research. The V M P also identifies a future addition of 25,000 gross square feet to the building, which will be constructed when funding becomes available.

The Center for Comparative Medicine will be an approximately 140,000-gross-square-feet, multi-story building recommended to be located south of the Agriculture Engineering Building and west of Clydesdale Hall on parking lot AV16 and the adjacent open area to the west. The proposed facility will include research and core laboratories, support spaces and a significant vivarium component for about 20 principal investigators. The structure will also include conference facilities and a 75-person teaching facility (classrooms and laboratories). The C M C is based on the one-medicine concept and will host collaborative research between animal and human health, as well as biological sciences and agriculture. Veterinarians, physicians, healthcare providers and other scientists will work together in clinical and laboratory settings to address fundamental questions impacting health and disease of humans and animals. The Program and Planning Study effort will derive vivarium requirements from a concurrent campus-wide Vivarium Master Plan, completed earlier this year for the Office of Animal Resources.

The future East Campus Parking Structure, located tentatively near the Trowbridge Livestock Center, will provide about 2,000 parking spaces for faculty, staff and students in nearby buildings. When funding is in place, the facility will take three years to complete.

The Spay/Neuter Clinic will be a 3,000- to 5,000-square-foot facility, tentatively located east of parking lot A V-9, which will serve as a subsidiary to the Humane Society, and would eventually be used by the College of Veterinary Medicine for research and other activities.

The privately funded Veterinary Medicine Guest House, to be located at the northwest corner of Rollins and William streets, will provide temporary, reduced-rate lodging for out-of-town owners of pets undergoing treatment in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

In addition to the construction of these high-tech, state-of-the-art research facilities, new infrastructure will be required, especially in the East Campus area. Upgrades and extensions of storm and sanitary sewer lines, and steam, electric, water and chilled water service will be needed to serve these new facilities.