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In 1990's Michigan Governor John Engler championed the reduction and consolidation of State-operated psychiatric facilities. The Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital, which first opened in 1859 as the Michigan Asylum for the Insane, was one of the facilities slated for removal or downsizing. WMU was given the opportunity to acquire the divested properties. The property was transferred to the University in October 1998, and in 2001 was renamed the Oakland Drive Campus. (Per the formal agreement with the State, the downsized KRPH continues to operate on a portion of the property.) Dr. Elson S. Floyd became Western's sixth President on August 1, 1998. Soon after, he initiated the process for developing a new Campus Master Plan. Administered by Mr. Robert Beam, Vice President for Business and Finance; Ms. Evie Asken, Director of Campus Planning, and the Campus Planning Council of the Faculty Senate (renamed Campus Planning and Finance Council, Fall 2000), it was accepted by the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees in December, 2000. The '2001 Master Plan' describes ten Fundamental Concepts to guide all University physical planning. President Haenicke's pursuit of a "research oriented, student centered" university was continued by Dr. Floyd. These efforts were rewarded in 2000 when the Carnegie Foundation classified Western Michigan University as "Doctoral/Research University - Extensive". Contributing to the University's growth as a research institution were State of Michigan authorized building projects for the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the College of Health and Human Services. These two building projects signaled a significant departure from the campus planning of the previous fifty years, which had focused on developing a pedestrian-friendly academic core on the West Campus, to the development of multiple, separate campuses, each with its own academic core. The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) project upgraded its academic and research spaces to modern technology-intensive standards as well as creating a climate for cooperative research and development activities with industry. After a period of intense discussion, which included development proposals from the cities of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, Dr. Floyd announced that a new campus would be built on the University's Lee Baker Farm property on the west side of Kalamazoo, three miles from WMU's Main Campus. The new Parkview Campus would be the home of the new engineering building and a relocated and expanded paper pilot plant for the Paper Science and Technology program. The Baker Farm development would also house a University-administered Business, Technology and Research (BTR) Park. The first tenant moved into the BTR Park in 2001 and the Paper Coating Pilot Plant was dedicated October 11, 2002. The College of Engineering building was open for classes Fall Semester 2003 and the building dedication was September 12, 2003. Another major capital project, a new building for the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) will be located on the Oakland Drive Campus (the former property of the Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital) near the existing WMU Unified Clinics, Center for Disability Services, and the MSU Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies on Oakland Drive. The location complements the College's mission to provide accessible health care education and services to WMU students and to the Southwest Michigan community. The building project also contributes to the State's "Health Care Corridor" in Central and Southwest Michigan, a growth-engine for economic development, educational opportunities, community-based health care systems and University-industry partnerships. Groundbreaking for the project took place April 8, 2003. Construction on the CHHS building is scheduled to be completed mid-2005. The CEAS and the CHHS building projects required the University to look at the connections, both physical and administrative, between the multiple campus locations. Ensuring successful functionality as 'stand-alone' buildings, as well as providing convenient transportation connections for faculty, students and staff required intense planning between many different departments of the University. Participants included Student Services offices, Dining Services, Physical Plant's Maintenance, Landscaping and Custodial Services, Information Technology, and outside entities - the City of Kalamazoo, Metro Transit, the Parkview neighborhood associations, and others. |
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