More Local

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
• Former Marine to serve two years in jail for killing Albuquerque robber
• Wilson-Pearce battle for U.S. Senate exemplifies party's disparity

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

A revamped parking structure, additional student housing and a hotel/conference facility for the Athletics Department might be in the University of New Mexico's future.

Architects, planners, local consultants and faculty members will bring their ideas for the UNM campus to the table during a four-day master plan visioning meeting, called a charrette.

Roger Schluntz, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, will lead the charrette and design workshop Sunday through Wednesday.

"We are simply doing the preliminary visioning . . .," said Schluntz. "The charrette team will brainstorm what are the needs for the future. This is simply education in one aspect because it allows the university community to better understand what the future options are and what the needs and problems are in other areas."

Carolyn Gonzales, a UNM spokeswoman, said the university needs to stay ahead of growth. This event gives planners an opportunity to focus on a new master plan of what the campus will evolve to become.

The four days will entail the review of the old plan, discussing new ideas, an informal critique by UNM administrators and staff and a final presentation of the concepts.

The last campus plan for UNM was in the 1996-97 school year.

UNM President David Schmidly requested the charrette in order to update the old development plan and discuss future options for the campus, he said in a news release.

Roger Lujan, university architect, said 10 years is the norm for a college to stick with a development plan. However, he said it is imperative UNM re-evaluate that plan.

"When you think of campuses and how they evolve, a lot is changing in 10 years," he said. "We need to be able to make a plan that affects the current state of the university."

He said a lot has changed since the last time the school came up with a master plan.

"We had projected by the year 2030, we would have 35,000 students" he said. "Enrollment hasn't grown as fast as we thought it would."

Terry Babbitt, vice president for enrollment management at UNM, said the university has 25,749 students enrolled this semester.

Lujan said some of Schmidly's new plans might further affect enrollment, such as an interest in the 2 plus 2 agreement - two years at Central New Mexico Community College and two years at UNM.

"It makes it different for subsequent years of construction," he said. "They (students) could be in other campuses such as CNM."

Schluntz said one of the main focuses of the charrette is the connection of the university's three main areas - north, south and main campus.

He said the group will be looking at what the relationships are with those campuses. Members will look at pedestrian links to the campuses and the visual relationship so it feels like one campus.

Schluntz said some ideas that might be brought to the table during the charrette are renovated parking structures, additional student housing and an improved student recreation center. A new visitor's center and a hotel/conference facility for the Athletics Department are a few other considerations.

Schluntz said that at any given time there will be 35 to 45 individuals during the event. The core design team includes more than 30 people. The information gathering at the final presentation will have about 200 guests and visitors.

He said most of the event is open to the public.

"They can bring their ideas and pin it on the wall," he said. "It's a time to get on the table various ideas, opinions and concerns."

Lujan said everyone's input will contribute to the university's main goals.

"Their (administration) goal is a different state of student retention and graduation, on how we make the university an attractive place to come," he said.