When Lee Bollinger became president of the University in 1997, the Central and Medical campuses were not closely connected and many buildings were in dire need of renovations. It was at this time, less than a year after his inauguration, that Bollinger announced his “master plan.”
Bollinger said at the time that his plan was intended “to conceive of our campus as a whole and consider its place in the larger Ann Arbor community and to look at things for the future for a hundred years from now to consider what our University campus might be like, what its character should be.”
Four and a half years later, students are still surrounded by cranes, fences, and rubble as Bollinger”s dream is built.
The renovation of Mason and Haven halls has left the area around the Diag in ruins. Thousands of students are rerouted on their walk to class by fencing separating them from construction equipment. Once finished, the renovation will add eight stories to Haven Hall and give it a completely new interior. Haven Hall is expected to be completed in November 2002, while Mason is slated for June 2003.
“I think Haven Hall will be interesting because it will keep the characteristics of the Fishbowl but still expand Haven,” Associate Vice President of Facilities and Operations Hank Baier said earlier this year. “With the renovation it will be not only a modern building but it will enhance the whole Diag.”
But now some of the biggest parts of the plan will be built without Bollinger.
The largest is the Palmer Drive Development. It will combine many of the existing buildings on the edge of the Hill Area near Central Campus including the Central Power Plant, known well to students for its smokestacks.
The development includes a Commons building with large conference rooms, including a deli-type cafeteria. The Walgreen Drama Center, another building being integrated in the project, is slated to house the new Arthur Miller Theater, which will seat approximately 600 students. The new Life Sciences Institute will be built, and the renovated parking structure will create more than 1,000 parking spaces.
“Bollinger got the Life Sciences commission going. It”s a really intense effort to expand life sciences at U-M,” said Baier. “The main drama center will house the Arthur Miller Theater so we can combine the life sciences with drama.”
Baier also said that the project was intended to unite the Medical Campus with Central Campus, and create a central meeting place for the two. Its creation will also include a plaza, from which students can access the walking bridge that runs over Washtenaw Avenue, further connecting the two parts of campus.
Also on Bollinger”s renovation agenda are Hill Auditorium and the Rackham School of Graduate Studies. The renovations to Hill include an upgrade of the infrastructure and improvements in the building”s functionality. Rackham will undergo renovations to rework the electrical systems and repair the building”s exterior.
Rackham is “really significant because that”s one of the most important buildings on campus architecturally,” Baier said.
West Hall will also be receiving infrastructure improvements.
“We think it”s important that the buildings stay up to date,” said Baier. “You have to remember that these buildings were not made when people were using computers.”
Most of the changes and additions to campus are expected to be completed by the year 2003.