Onto phase two

Consultants for the master campus plan heard people like the look of Dal's older stone buildings.

Consultations for the first phase of Dalhousie’s Campus Master Plan are wrapping up and Facilities Management and members of the consulting team say “thank you” to everyone who contributed ideas.

“It’s been just amazing,” says Mary Jane Adams, director of planning in Facilities Management and the Dal staff member responsible for guiding the process.

“People have come forward at our series of public meetings and they’ve contributed through Dalnews online and the community relations’ email box. The response has been wonderful.”

Approximately 1,000 people contributed ideas and many more have been tapped for their suggestions in meetings that ranged from small groups to large ones, such as the Dalhousie Student Union Executives and the President’s Administrative Directors’ Forum (PADF).

Public meetings were held on all three campuses and about 30 neighbours attended an evening meeting on November 3. More than 150 faculty, students and staff have contributed their ideas via electronic channels.

Dominant issues are parking and transportation, the need for more day care spaces, an upgrading of Dalplex or more exercise opportunities on each campus, renovations or replacement of the Life Sciences Centre, more quiet spaces for students to study, and the future of University Avenue as a more pleasant and pedestrian-friendly space.

Those are the top priorities that people would like to see addressed in the master campus planning process. The plan will guide the university’s future physical development.

Now the consultants are concentrating on developing the range of priority issues and options that will go to senior management in December.

“We are hard at work on this now,” says Larry Sherman, head of the IBI Group. “The university’s executive must carefully consider the range of opportunities and priorities and give us direction. We will report back to the Dalhousie community in the new year, once that direction is clear.

“Everyone involved in the consultations would like to thank students, faculty, staff, neighbours, and all the hundreds of people we’ve met with over the last several months,” says Mr. Sherman. “They’ve given their time to help us determine a way forward for the university’s physical development as Dalhousie moves into the future.”

The consultations have been led by IBI Group, a multi-disciplinary planning and design firm with experience throughout North America with the planning and development of post-secondary campuses and educational facilities. IBI head Larry Sherman and John Crace of WHW Architects, a member of the consulting team, conducted the majority of meetings.