MU on the fringe

ooking at the 2004 MU Campus Master Plan map, it’s easy to see the direction the campus is growing: Areas to the east and south of the older, central campus are next in line for a variety of new structures.

The traditional home of the university’s agriculture and veterinary facilities, the “East Campus” is the site for several federally funded research and support facilities, among other proposed projects. And, the “Southeast Gateway,” is the site of a proposed arts village, anchored by a performing-arts center at the northwest corner of Stadium Boulevard and College Avenue.

Open areas in the East Campus, top, and the "Southeast Gateway," bottom, currently have little, if any, infrastructure to support future development.

To the casual observer, these two areas appear ripe for development, given abundant open space and proximity to existing buildings and major streets. For campus planners, however, these are considered the “outer fringe” of campus, with limited infrastructure, if any, to support new construction.

“With all of this growth, it’s necessary to have the infrastructure to support it,” said Larry Edwards, interim assistant vice chancellor – facilities. “Not only do we need to extend electricity, steam, water, chilled water, and sanitary and storm sewers into these areas, but also to increase the capacity of serving this part of campus.”

Unprecedented growth

Campus facilities, still being added to campus, increased tremendously during the “boom” years of the late 1980s through the early 2000s. New buildings, such as Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Center, Cornell Hall, Townsend Hall’s expansion and renovation, and several multi-story parking garages added much-needed teaching, research, support and parking space to the main campus. During the past 15 years, new and renovated campus space grew by about one-third to a total of 15.2-million-gross-square-feet.

Campus growth, however, has reached a juncture where new construction depends on the availability and capacity of utility and sewer lines being able to accommodate additional buildings. Plans for the East Campus, the Southeast Gateway, and “infill” sites in the central campus will have to be put on hold until new utility and sewer infrastructure is extended and upgraded to serve the proposed new buildings.

“We’ve reached the point where we must increase the capacity of our utilities, or not add additional facilities,” said Edwards. “We are looking at our infrastructure and how we’re going to address this problem.”

Funding Concerns

Not surprising, the problem comes down to money. While, over the years, the campus has received funds to construct buildings, funding for infrastructure growth has been inadequate.

“Our infrastructure traditionally has not been funded as buildings have gone up on campus. In other words, we get money for buildings, but not for infrastructure,” said Edwards.

This piecemeal approach has resulted in Campus Facilities maintaining an extensive web of utility and sewer lines of various ages and states of repair. Some utility lines are fairly new and in good condition, a result over the past 15 years of upgrading electric and chilled water lines in the central campus. Other utility lines, however, were installed 30 to 40 years ago. Sewer lines installed in the 1920s and 1930s in Red Campus and White Campus areas have never been upgraded. Some newer storm sewer lines, installed in the 1960s, are already failing and must be replaced.

Some improvements are made through recharge fees for steam, electric, water and chilled water. No similar funding mechanism, however, exists for infrastructure extensions and capacity upgrades.

“Our concern is not only for funds to maintain the infrastructure that we have,” said Edwards. “We’re also talking about money for extending lines to supply new buildings that are planned for the future.”

	Photos of the storm-sewer outflow pipe under Stadium Boulevard show extensive damage. Replacing the six-foot diameter pipe, installed in the 1960s, will cost approximately $3.2 million to replace.

Planning ahead

Campus leaders are presently studying a comprehensive, long-range plan, proposed by Campus Facilities for funding infrastructure needs.

The plan calls for incremental increases in existing utility and sewer fees and surcharges on new construction to fund extensions, capacity increases and replacement of deteriorating infrastructure. Implementing the plan would eliminate the most critical infrastructure needs, provide funds for future projects and clear up a backlog of deferred maintenance on the campus’ support system.

One of the most critical projects is replacing the South Campus storm drain outflow pipe. Installed in the early 1960s, the 54-inch-diameter pipe is crumbling underneath Stadium Boulevard. Replacing the pipe now, at a cost of $3.2 million, would be considerably cheaper than waiting until it collapses and creates an emergency situation.

“We’ve taxed our infrastructure to its ability to meet demand,” said Edwards. “It’s a challenge we have to address. Instead of fixing things in a crisis mode, we should plan for what is needed and get things in shape to last for the next 20 to 30 years.”