Architects, Board of Trustees discuss campus entrance

As part of the Board of Trustees meetings this past weekend, architects Mike Van Yahres and Sid Knight of Van Yahres Associates visited to discuss options for establishing a primary entryway to EMU.

The architects presented an overview of landscape and campus design, emphasizing the need for a recognizable entrance, an identifiable center, definite edges, organized circulation (parking), and a new design for simplicity and efficient maintenance, according to board minutes.

During the meeting board members based discussion on the current EMU Master Plan, which has projected placement of buildings and use of land for the entire campus to address possile locations for the entryway.

No decisions have yet been made, but there are two obvious options according to President Loren Swartzendruber. The first is to direct people up Parkwood Drive past Eastern Mennonite High School, and the second is to have an entrance onto Park Road from Mt. Clinton Pike.

The issue is one that has never been firmly resolved in the history of the university, said Swartzendruber. Having a clearly marked primary entryway is a concern for EMU because of the effect it can have on first impressions, especially for prospective students who have never visited the campus. Swartzendruber said that some prospective students may be turned away merely because they cannot figure out where to go when they reach campus.

Factors such as traffic flow, long-term effects on campus growth, first impressions, and ease with which students can locate the admissions office need to be taken into account. A new campus entrance might also mean the creation of a Welcome Center which Swartzendruber said will most likely be a new building constructed three to five years in the future.

Focus groups will be scheduled to discuss options about what the new entrance might look like. Swartzendruber said that no specific dates have been given for making decisions, but he expects to have many on-campus discussions in the middle of the spring term.

Swartzendruber stressed that while there will be one primary entry, there will always be what the architects called "family entrances," or secondary ways to enter the campus.

The decision will need to take into account future and external development. Plans to build housing developments on the opposite side of the hill behind EMU may change traffic flow on Mt. Clinton, but Swartzendruber said they don't know what changes are being planned for the road itself. They will need to meet with city officials regarding long-range projections for planning and development.