It's been a year and a half since the University officially accepted the "Strategic Framework for Physical Planning" in October 2003, and while some elements of the plan are already underway, others remain specks on the architectural horizon.
The framework is the culminating report of the 15-month study undertaken by Frances Halsband of R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband architects as part of President Ruth Simmons' Plan for Academic Enrichment.
Traditionally, the University has expanded its campus by constructing new buildings and purchasing land and buildings in the College Hill area.
Over the years, as Brown has continued to grow, the constraints of College Hill have become more apparent. To remedy this problem, the Halsband plan calls for a more efficient use of campus space. According to Executive Vice President for Planning Richard Spies, a goal established in the framework is to "consolidate the core," meaning to pinpoint underutilized buildings and spaces and make necessary changes to ensure they are used to their capacity.
According to the framework Web site, Brown's holdings include 143 acres on College Hill, rented properties in Providence and the Haffenreffer estate, a waterfront property in Bristol. The University owns 235 buildings totaling 6 million square feet of space. The median building size is 25,000 square feet - significantly smaller than at most universities.
One potential problem with consolidating the campus is the ever-present strain on parking availability. "The key, from our point of view, remains one of parking," said Barry Fain, publisher of East Side Monthly and Providence Monthly and a former independent candidate for State Senate. Fain expressed concern about the effects of the Life Sciences building on the community.
"Every time they put up another major building, where they are attracting more people to work in the area - which is wonderful - where are they going to park?" Fain said. "They refer to it as a parking problem, we refer to it sometimes as an overbuilding problem."
A parking squeeze isn't the only potential ramification of campus expansion. Questions of congruity with the surroundings, traffic flow and preservation also come into play.
Some members of the community feel that the monolithic Life Sciences building will be a visual blight in a residential neighborhood. Fain said he questions the placement of the Life Sciences building because its Meeting Street location lacks room to expand. Fain said he feels an off-campus location would have been more appropriate for the Life Sciences building.
"To us, the building belonged down by the river or down by the hospitals, which other major universities like Harvard, Yale and Penn are doing, and Brown chooses not to do that. It's an unfortunate missed opportunity," he said.
In the past, the University has declined offers to purchase land for expansion along Allens Avenue, across the river from College Hill, but Brown is undertaking some off-campus expansion in restructuring a five-story building at 70 Ship St., in the Jewelry District. The 105,000-square-foot space will house the new Laboratories for Molecular Medicine, part of the Division of Biology and Medicine. It is Brown's first academic building to be located off College Hill.
Back on College Hill, one of the next campus additions will be a walkway connecting the Pembroke campus and main campus. The Walk is meant to foster increased unity on campus as well as provide an aesthetically pleasing substitute to the parking lot running behind the Shell gas station on Angell Street.
But although the surrounding community is generally receptive to this plan, some residents are concerned that an increased flow of students across Angell and Waterman streets will disrupt traffic and cause standstills. "I think connecting the campuses is admirable," Fain said, "but I think Brown has to realize that Angell Street and Waterman Street are the two main thoroughfares on the East Side. ... If the idea is that there's going to be a constant flow of students between the two campuses ... hopefully there's some way to allow the students to move more easily around the campus without shutting down Waterman and Angell every hour on the hour." Fain said Brown could construct a walkway over the streets, as the University of Pennsylvania constructed a walkway over 38th Street in Philadelphia.
As a consequence of The Walk, the 137-year-old Peter Green House, which houses the Department of History, will be moved a short distance down Angell Street, across from Hillel. Fain praised the University's consideration for historic preservation in choosing to move the building, rather than raze it. "There are times when Brown has been an excellent custodian of historic architecture. Unfortunately, there've been times when they've knocked down something that they shouldn't," he said.
Spies said Peter Green House's new location, among other residential buildings rather than adjacent to the gas station parking lot, will be a better fit for the house. Hillel's Glenn and Darcy Weiner Center was also built on a residential scale and incorporates historic buildings into its infrastructure.
Peter Green House is one of 105 houses Brown owns. University ownership of houses, particularly historic ones, is a hot button issue because while it allows Brown's expansion, it also detracts from the community's housing and tax base.
The "Framework" calls for a future, in-depth review of University-owned houses, in keeping with the Halsband master plan's recommendations that houses be returned to the community where appropriate, particularly those houses that are currently not used or underused.
Fain said the community would be glad to see the houses back on the tax roll. "I'm excited (that) ... as Brown has houses that do not fit into their expansion plans, that they would return them to the tax rolls and to the community."
Fain said that although community members would like to be involved as Brown moves forward with the physical changes recommended in the "Framework," it is "a misconception that the people that choose to live on the East Side or choose to live in College Hill are anti-Brown growth."
Many neighborhood residents have some affiliation with the school, as alums, parents of Brown students or simply community members who attend classes or lectures at Brown, Fain said. Fain's wife is a Brown alum and president of her class.
"I would venture to say that most of us who live here have chosen to live here because of Brown," Fain said.
Spies said that for the most part, community reaction to Brown's future plans has been positive. "There's a lot of anticipation, some apprehension, but mostly I think an eagerness to see it done well," he said.
