Public Input Sought On Concepts For UB Landscaping Plan

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Work sessions have been scheduled on both UB's North and South campuses to solicit public input on the preliminary conceptual plans for a campuswide master landscaping plan.

The sessions will be held from noon to 5 p.m. March 29 in 301 Crosby Hall on the South Campus and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 30 in the second-floor Social Hall of the Student Union on the North Campus.

The sessions are open to members of the public, as well as members of the university community.

The conceptual plans have been developed by the consultant team -- the local firm of Wendel Engineering and the New York City-based HOK Planning Group -- and members of the universitywide Master Landscape Plan Advisory Committee (MLPAC).

In addition to presentation and discussion of the conceptual plans, the sessions will review the preliminary findings of the 1,600 questionnaires that were distributed last month to faculty, staff and students, as well as members of the nearby business community.

Designed to "encourage active public involvement at the critical early stages of the master-planning process," according to Michael Wright, associate program coordinator for University Facilities and project manager for the landscaping project, the work sessions are part of a five-phase planning process.

Peter Killian, director of marketing at UB and a member of the MLPAC, notes the architects have been charged with "looking at everything, not just where we can plant flowers." The project is "wide-open," Killian says, and proposals could range anywhere from integrating bike and roller-blade paths across the two campuses to tearing up Founder's Plaza along the academic Spine on the North Campus.

In addition, the architects will take into consideration UB 2025, a 30-year project spearheaded by the university's Environmental Task Force to transform the North Campus into a greener, more inviting physical environment. A key component of the plan is to restore more than 100 acres of the campus to the woodlands that existed before the campus was built.

The master plan is expected to be completed by the end of May, Wright says, noting that the actual landscaping work will be done in phases over five to 10 years. Although no budget has been set, the project will be financed with capital money, he adds.

The landscaping plan dovetails with a project already under way to install new signage on both campuses.