As students, we all want to see our campus prosper through innovation, and the University’s Master Plan allows that to happen. However, is now the right time to begin implementing such a plan?
In 2003, the University finished its first Master Plan and received approval from the LSU Board of Supervisors. The purpose of the master plan was to come up with ideas for physical innovation that would better the campus through the next 20 years.
The Master Plan has been updated many times since 2003.
Last October, the University announced it was in contract with NBBJ, the firm selected to create an updated Master Plan.
NBBJ will use the 2003 plan and LSU’s strategic plan, Flagship 2020: Transforming Lives as a framework for the update.
A 78-page PDF presentation shows the exact campus-wide ideas NBBJ plans to implement. They plan on bringing ideas to residential life, dining, architecture, landscape, transportation, parking and numerous other areas.
“Development on campus has progressed rapidly since 2003 and the current and upcoming development is unprecedented,” said Roger Husser, director of LSU planning, design and construction. “Whereas the 2003 Master Plan identified how the campus might look in 50 years, we need to know how we should strategically grow in the next five to 10 years.”
The Master Plan is astonishing. However, now is not the time.
I’m not sure if the perfect time for such a plan will ever come, considering that this is Louisiana — the state that can never seem to balance its budget.
But, I’m sure a better time than the one right now will come along. We must prioritize.
Husser said the campus is looking for ways to grow within the next 5-10 years, meaning construction for many of its projects would have to begin relatively soon. The University is not ready for that right now.
Just a few months ago, everything hit the fan. Students were told they may lose TOPS, faculty and staff were told they may lose jobs and the University was told it may lose state money.
LSU President F. King Alexander sent an email last week outlining how we should remain alert and concerned as the legislature’s special session doesn’t end until June 6. He’s correct when he says many things can change until then.
The loss of TOPS will result in students breaking their backs to cough up the money the state would normally allot them. There is no wiggle room here. There is no room for some new random charge on our fee bill or a raise in tuition that will go toward funding this extravagant plan.
Not now.
Not to mention, NBBJ isn’t creating this plan for free. I could only imagine how much a global architecture company with headquarters more than 2,000 miles away in Seattle, Washington would charge.
An entire website is dedicated to the LSU Master Plan. On the website, you can give your ideas, see the projected timeline of the process and view the calendar of events in which you can participate.
One event, the “Master Plan Open House,” will be held in the Student Union on May 3. There, students can ask questions and get more information regarding the plan.
According to the website, we are in phase one right now. The Master Plan is projected to be in its final phase by this time next year. This process is moving quickly.
LSU should’ve been more mindful of the contracts they committed themselves to.
I understand what a contract is, and that it’s probably too late to back out or hold it off. But administrators should have considered holding off several months ago when the contract was first signed with NBBJ.
Clarke Perkins is a 20-year-old political science sophomore from New Orleans, Louisiana.