Representatives from Northwestern will be presenting their plans for construction on North Campus to the Evanston Preservation Commission on Thursday night as part of the process to obtain a permit to begin construction, according to a University release.
Bonnie Humphrey, the University’s director of design and construction, will be attending the meeting along with other architects to present the North Campus framework plan, University spokesman Al Cubbage said.
Among the building plans being posed is one for a new facility to be constructed on North Campus. The facility, for which Cubbage said construction is slated to start in February, will contain space for a new weight room and fitness studios and offices for recreation and fitness staff, according to the release.
“The new facility will provide significantly expanded and improved space for fitness, wellness and other programs for use by the entire Northwestern community,” Jim Phillips, vice president for athletics and recreation, said in the release.
The facility is one part of the athletics and recreation complex development on North Campus, which will include the construction of a new multipurpose athletic facility, as well as renovations to the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and Norris Aquatics Center and the field hockey and soccer/lacrosse fields, the release said.
The new facility will also contain 1,125 parking spots in a six-level structure. According to the release, these spaces will replace the approximately 400 spots that currently exist in the location, as well as the 450 spots that will be taken away when construction starts on the new Kellogg building. That building is also part of the North Campus framework planned for later this year. Parking during the construction process will remain open in the lot east of Kemper Hall, according to the release.
Space on the first floor as well as the second floor of the parking structure will be utilized by NU’s audiology and speech/language/learning clinics and the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Cubbage said plans for the new Ryan Fieldhouse are also slated to be discussed at Thursday’s meeting. He also said construction of the campus green in front of the Allen Center is nearly finished but did not have an estimated date for completion.
Cubbage said he believes the renovations across North Campus will help improve life on campus.
“They’re all key parts of developing campus to provide better facilities for all members of the community, mainly students, but also for faculty and staff,” he said.
Construction on the parking garage portion of the building is slated to finish in early 2014 and recreational and office spaces will develop later that year, the release said. The first portion of this project is estimated to cost more than $40 million.
