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Old 01-17-2017, 07:33 AM
 
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I will riot if they close Stalnaker. Absolutely no reason to demolish that building.
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Old 01-17-2017, 07:57 AM
 
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Originally Posted by WVUmatt View Post
Wow, if they close Stalnacker, they might as well close Dadisman, that building is a dump and is in much worse condition than Stalnacker.


Hopefully they start announcing things, a lot of stuff seems to be going on behind the scenes.


I've also heard through the grapevine that a certain college down town that is in a much to small location will be getting a new large building along with a dorm and restaurants attached to it where stansburry currently is.
I would prefer they close Dadisman. Shoot they still might. You know how office gossip goes.

That's due in part to how tightly vested and at the same time fluid this situation is.

In addition, I did drive by Stansberry and notice some ramp work there. I could really see a full scale renovation done to off set the closing of Boreman, Stalnaker, and soon the Mountainlair.
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Old 01-17-2017, 10:14 AM
 
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I would hope to God there's a master planned map of what downtown campus SHOULD look like. If WVU is going to change everything, might as well make it right according to a logical plan. It sounds like this is more piecemeal BS development which is why we're in the situation we are now.
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Old 01-17-2017, 11:10 AM
 
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Originally Posted by Greystreet21 View Post
I would hope to God there's a master planned map of what downtown campus SHOULD look like. If WVU is going to change everything, might as well make it right according to a logical plan. It sounds like this is more piecemeal BS development which is why we're in the situation we are now.
Actually, if they're going to demolish at least one (Boreman) and at most four (+/- Boreman North, Stalnaker, Dadisman) residence halls, then you need a complete, phased plan to accommodate the shift in student living spaces and functionality. This would be something that literally couldn't be done otherwise. I don't see them tearing down the oldest residence hall on campus; it is in need of a renovation, but a complete structural overhaul isn't necessary (I lived there). So I think that you see Stalnaker possibly close at the end of the year for a renovation, not demolition. That's more likely, I hope. Taking that into consideration, here's what I could foresee happening:

1. Stalnaker closes at the end of this year for renovations. With the completion of UPlace and UPark, the University can finally renovate Towers (half a Tower a semester) and still have room to fix up other Halls. The first would be Stalnaker. Renovations last until the end of the Fall 2017 semester.

2. The University completes its study of the Mountainlair and concludes that it no longer meets the needs of the modern student, whatever that means. This probably happens towards the end of this year and we'll, ideally, see a master plan of the downtown campus. They announce that a new Student Union will be constructed on the site of Boreman and Boreman North, including the rest of the block behind the dorms to Spruce. Students in these dorms will move into Stalnaker when it is finished. A mid-year move is never easy, but for the expediency of demolition, this may happen.

3. Demolition is complete by the end of Spring 2018. Construction will last a year and a half, depending on the scope of the project. Concurrently, Dadisman Hall is renovated.

4. Once the new Mountainlair is finished, the old one along with the plaza and garage, will come down. This is some time in 2020. The resultant space will be used for a central gathering place and badly needed greenscape. Bordering the site can be a couple of academic buildings, a parking garage, and/or a dorm, depending on spatial needs.

5. Here's where things get interesting. You now have space to finally re-route traffic. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to reconstruct Maiden Lane to go through where the bookstore and student org offices are currently. This eliminates the tight turning radii in the area and can bypass the Grumbein's Island area without costly tunnelling or an overpass. It also preserves Stalnaker and actually gives it a bit more green space where Maiden Lane currently is. Not bad, right? People have wanted to eliminate the vehicle-ped conflict at Grumbein's Island for decades. Well, we just moved the main pedestrian origin/destination, the Mountainlair, across High Street, so that wouldn't be resolved. Still, there would need to be improved access to the new site, so roadway upgrades (North High, Prospect, Spruce at minimum) will be necessary no matter what.

Any other speculation out there?
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Old 01-17-2017, 11:14 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greystreet21 View Post
I would hope to God there's a master planned map of what downtown campus SHOULD look like. If WVU is going to change everything, might as well make it right according to a logical plan. It sounds like this is more piecemeal BS development which is why we're in the situation we are now.
I agree with the bolded statement, however how can you claim this sounds like more BS piecemeal development? All we have so far is two people saying they have heard things regarding 3-4 buildings, none of which is officially confirmed and the university has not announced anything. Also when WVU did the major overhaul to Evansdale there was a master plan (even though I wish the master plan included tearing down towers and rebuilding with something nice, tearing down the engineering tower and replace it and tear down that other eye sore across the road from the new ag science building), so if they did it for Evansdale, one can assume there would be/will be a master plan for downtown. I wouldn't blast them and complain about no master plan until we know for a fact that there is or isn't one.
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Old 01-18-2017, 08:12 AM
 
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Alright, in case they don't have a master plan yet, let's give them a head start.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1J-...i0&usp=sharing

Work in progress, for sure, but I wanted to put some ideas down on a map and see the spatial configuration. I've only focused on existing buildings and possible roadway modifications and what to do with the old Lair site. This assumes both Stalnaker and Dadisman stay, but are renovated (as my previous ideas were laid out). I still have to think about other roadway modifications such as two-waying, access to buildings for delivery (main reason keeping Prospect open), etc., as well as parking considerations, actual planning of the new Mountainlair site (I only have the area marked), and more fine-tuned details such as quad layout, monumental features, event staging, etc.

For now, what input would you have for what's there now, and what we could add/modify?
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Old 01-18-2017, 08:50 AM
 
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Originally Posted by elewis7 View Post
Alright, in case they don't have a master plan yet, let's give them a head start.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1J-...i0&usp=sharing

Work in progress, for sure, but I wanted to put some ideas down on a map and see the spatial configuration. I've only focused on existing buildings and possible roadway modifications and what to do with the old Lair site. This assumes both Stalnaker and Dadisman stay, but are renovated (as my previous ideas were laid out). I still have to think about other roadway modifications such as two-waying, access to buildings for delivery (main reason keeping Prospect open), etc., as well as parking considerations, actual planning of the new Mountainlair site (I only have the area marked), and more fine-tuned details such as quad layout, monumental features, event staging, etc.

For now, what input would you have for what's there now, and what we could add/modify?
Looking at it, lets assume the B&E does move to where stansbury currently is and includes a dorm (all new buildings). I could then see old B&E building, LSB, and the new buildings on falling run being the main sciences buildings (both social and natural sciences) and maybe even mathematics. Brooks stays the main geography/geology building. Maybe Armstrong gets renovated and used as a general class building or math classes stay there because the other science buildings take up to much room for math to be moved. Hodges gets completely gutted and rebuilt (boy does it need it) and used as general class rooms. Eisland continues on as it is right now. The building in-between maiden lane and the current mountainlair will be torn down, they moved the health services out of those offices a couple years ago and I'd imagine whenever the mountainlair goes that building is being torn down too. It really isn't needed. Hopefully WVU levels Knapp Hall, the place looks like crap, they could replace it with a nice 6-8 story modern office building and it would look a lot nicer. I think WVU will finish purchasing the last little bit of land it does not own between 1st, grant, campus and university and build something there. As for the area where the old mountainlair currently is, I could see them level it, dig down a couple stories, build a 2-3 story parking garage and the entire top of it is green space with trees, water features, park area, basketball courts, quad areas, area for a concert, etc.... I could also see them building a couple story rec center there with a bunch of outdoor areas surrounding it. If I am dreaming with regards to the B&E building down where stansbury currently is, I'd love for them to tear out the current PRT station and incorporate it into the new building, that way the PRT does not have to cross over the road.


I think university avenue and wiley street become a T intersection with a signal and university becomes a two way down to university and beechurst. I have no clue what WVU will do with the land it owns on the university avenue side running down from wiley, but I imagine they will do something, it is an eye sore and is poorly utilized right now.


Looking at the river front area, WVU owns (if looking at the google map) from the end of 4 houses to the right of papa johns down to where knapp hall currently is except for the small church (WVU could build them a small church on some other land out of the immediate downtown area), the two town homes near campus drive (owned by James Guiliani, but I'm sure for the right price he would sell, he knows he is sitting on a gold mine there), and a small tiny lot to the right of Knapp hall owned by Biafora (supposedly, even though it is a WVU parking area). Imagine if they moved the PRT so it hugs the backside of the lots toward the rail trail and does not cross the road (new station incorporated into a new building). That is a lot of prime buildable space. Also imagine if WVU buys up the lots that the Standard was supposed to be built on and then buys the two lots between those new lots and Knapp hall, that new area plus what WVU already owns, would roughly be a little over a half of a mile long (based on google maps scale) of prime river front property that WVU would own (WVU also owns a good portion of the land directly across on the other side of the river).

Last edited by WVUmatt; 01-18-2017 at 09:09 AM..
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Old 01-20-2017, 09:04 AM
 
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The Dominion Post - WVU to consider closing Arnold Hall

I'm including it in this thread because, as part of the plan I laid out, I forgot to mention it would include closing Arnold Hall.
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Old 01-20-2017, 09:12 AM
 
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I know wrong thread, but I would think all this talk would spark CA to start their tower ASAP. You can't beat the VFW location.
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Old 01-20-2017, 09:24 AM
 
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Originally Posted by elewis7 View Post
The Dominion Post - WVU to consider closing Arnold Hall

I'm including it in this thread because, as part of the plan I laid out, I forgot to mention it would include closing Arnold Hall.
Very interesting, would make sense to move any new dorm built closer to the campus itself instead of being that far back from the rest of campus. Wonder if WVU would sell the land that is under Arnold.
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