The university’s vision for the historic College Avenue Campus took another step forward as final plans for the initial stage of the College Avenue greening were unveiled at an open house this week.

“We want to tie the College Avenue landscape together to create an attractive, welcoming space that encourages social interaction, while making travel through the central hub more efficient,” said Tony Calcado, vice president of Facilities and Capital Planning. Calcado described the short- and long-term goals of the initiative April 21 at the Student Activity Center on George Street in New Brunswick.

The first phase of the project focuses on a section of College Avenue between Huntington Street and Bishop Place. Stretching for about a third of a mile, this portion of College Avenue will see the creation of new outdoor gathering spaces, pedestrian plazas, landscaped walkways, dedicated bike lanes, and the construction of an elongated steel and glass structure that will serve as an intercampus transportation hub.

“The hub will be more than just a bus shelter – it will serve as an architectural statement and aesthetic feature of the central campus,” Calcado said. “Our transportation system is a critical component of campus life, and we told the designers that we wanted a structure that not only recognized but celebrated its importance to the Rutgers community.”

To create the central pedestrian plaza for the transportation hub, a section of College Avenue between Senior Street and Bishop Place will be closed to all traffic except buses and emergency vehicles. Cars would be diverted on to Senior, Sicard, and Bartlett streets as alternate routes.

Rutgers has committed $17 million for the first phase of this multi-year project. Calcado said the university expects to break ground sometime this summer and that this phase will be completed by the fall of 2009.

Announced in 2005, the “Vision for the College Avenue Campus” is part of President Richard L. McCormick’s campus and community initiative, designed to strengthen Rutgers’ ties with its host communities and create a state university that is a major source of pride for New Jersey.

The College Avenue Campus initiative seeks to improve Rutgers’ most historic campus so that it provides a draw to top students and faculty, and encourages informal interactions among members of the university and neighboring communities.

During a yearlong competition, some of the world’s best-known architects, landscape designers, and planners presented their concepts for the future of College Avenue Campus. In December 2006, President McCormick selected Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos and Ignacio Bunster-Ossa of Wallace Roberts & Todd to lead the team that would work with the university to move the initiative forward.

Long range, the plans call for the creation of a pedestrian corridor – the “Raritan Mall” – that will intersect with College Avenue in the area of the Rutgers Student Center and Brower Commons and extend to the river.

“The proximity of the Raritan River is an extraordinary resource,” said Mark Dwyer, an associate of TEN Arquitectos, who joined Calcado in making the presentation. “Our goal is to make the river an integral part of the College Avenue Campus by making it more accessible. In addition, we plan to incorporate numerous water features into the design of the Raritan Mall.”

The transformation of College Avenue Campus is expected to take place over many years. The university doesn’t have the financial resources to build the full plan, which also proposes new academic and administrative buildings, student housing, and recreation space.

For more information on the Vision for the College Avenue Campus, click here.