UWT Acquires Pierce Transit Turnaround Within Footprint
UW Tacoma just finalized the purchase of the property near 17th and Jefferson that Pierce Transit currently uses as a bus turnaround. The UW Tacoma‘s Master Plan for campus development envisions that portion of the campus to have buildings, and when the opportunity arose to acquire it, they did.
UW Tacoma‘s next phase of campus development will be in the area surrounding the Pierce Transit property within their footprint. Administrators will be seeking funding from the state Legislature to perform a needs assessment and design for future campus expansion for the area that includes this new property acquisition.
As enrollment numbers grow, so do the needs of the campus, including needs for classroom and lab space, as well as other student activities and recreation. According to Mike Wark at UWT, the needs assessment will help identify priorities for the buildings constructed in the next round of campus development. An important part of this process will be integrating the surrounding community into the uses of these buildings, so students, faculty, and staff, as well as people who live and work in the area can engage in the educational and recreational opportunities available.
As priorities are identified, the physical space will begin to take shape. What the buildings will actually look like is determined by what will take place within them. The Master Plan provides a general plan, not an exact blueprint.
So, community, what are your hopes as UWT approaches its next move up the hill?
Link to the University of Washington Master Plan (pdf).
Filed under: dowtown-tacoma, uw-tacoma
6 comments
E Erik B. June 20, 2012
Building something tall and big, the max allowed by zoning. Might be a great place for some high density student housing so that students do not need to (nearly) all commute to the campus.
C Cecil B June 20, 2012
Multilevel parking garage! Students are screaming for more parking, and with the new hotel going in at 21st and “c” street there will be even less parking available.
O OkayThen June 20, 2012
Ha! Love the contrast of comments #1 & 2. Easier to live close as opposed to easier commuting.
I’d like to see UWT focus on what the adjacent private land won’t provide: an education leading to a four year degree.
Other owners can build parking & residences. (Have you seen the empty stalls in nearby facilities? Why haven’t students filled Court 17?) Let’s let UWT focus on what they do best, what they are commissioned to do: educate our citizens.
A AreteTacoma June 21, 2012
In line with the above comment, I’d love to see a school of engineering. An environmental engineering, or civil engineering degree would go well with the city’s goal to develop a “Urban Clean Water Technology Innovation Partnership Zone.” There is a real deficit of engineering schools in the Puget Sound region, which is surprising when you consider the massive presence of Boeing and international shipping around here. If we want to attract high paying employers in technical fields, we need an educated workforce. Liberal arts degrees do not attract the kind of employers that can provide a foundation for an economy.
M Mofo from the Hood June 21, 2012
I never thought that the old Tacoma Transit Company bus turnaround property would be demolished in my lifetime. This historically important property predates Pierce Transit by decades, and it is one quaint piece of roadway that should have been preserved in perpetuity.
Must every street in post-1963 Tacoma be demolished, or narrowed, or cluttered with speed bumps, or intersection planters, or bike lanes, or government mandated trees, or blocked by convention centers, or converted to demolition derby routes lined with diagonally parked cars, or otherwise altered because of people with internet college degrees in grant writing?
C Cycle Nut June 22, 2012
@#1 I would be pissed if education dollars are spent for housing. There are pleny of available lots downtown with in walking distance that any developer could develop for housing.
Plus it would force students to walk places that are off campus.
If there is a need for student housing then the State should provide developer tax breaks for near by projects through it’s capital and CDBG budget.