Discussing College Avenue Design and Planning

September 25, 2006

Members of the Rutgers Community:

Please join me this fall at a series of events designed to engage the university and surrounding community in a discussion of good design and campus planning. The events are part of the "Vision for the College Avenue Campus" initiative, which aims to create a learning environment at Rutgers that stands among the best in the nation.

Starting September 26, five teams of internationally renowned architects, planners and landscape architects will display their bold and sweeping concepts for College Avenue at an exhibition at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum. Their proposals offer exciting ideas for creating inviting public spaces and distinctive campus landmarks. A related exhibit presents a historical look at design on the College Avenue campus.

The design teams will present their concepts to the public on October 30 and, on November 16, I will host a public forum so that I can hear comments by members of the community about how we might improve the campus.

To help the community consider the broader context, there will be three lectures on campus design by leading architects, planners, scholars, and campus administrators in October.

All events are free and open to the public. Additional details are available at http://collegeavenuecampus.rutgers.edu/.

The redesign of the College Avenue campus is a long-range project. The recent $1 million grant from Bank of America provided critical support for the initiative, but it will take many years and significant private and public funding to fully redesign this campus. Nevertheless, it is vital we move ahead in our quest to create a superior learning environment that promotes the highest intellectual achievement. I hope you will participate in what should be a lively community dialogue as we begin planning for a campus that will serve our students and our state for generations to come.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey