FOCUS: Thirty-year plan part II

To some extent, Zemsky said, doubling the size of the campus will not be necessary over the next 30 years as it was over the previous 30. "What really happened is we've become a residential campus," he said. "We do not have that kind of pressure again." Eventually, he explained, the campus reaches a natural equilibrium. But under the plan, it is the east and southeast quadrants of the University map that may host expansion over the next three decades. In the Center City Gateway district, the plan points toward use of some of the riverfront property. "The post office parks cars on it," Zemsky said. "That's a pretty stupid use of that space." Of particular interest for building are areas that already provide a platform above the river -- on Market and Walnut streets in the area of 30th Street Station and the post office -- that allows construction without the worry of future flooding. Proceeding to the south, areas in the Riverfront district can be used for recreation. "Playing fields and flood plains go very well together," he said, adding that it is not terribly troublesome if practice baseball diamonds and football fields are flooded from time to time. "My sense is that the key is the river," he said. The river also plays a part in the plan for the South Street Gateway, which Zemsky said could be a "great historic walk" in 30 years, proceding from Irvine Auditorium past Franklin Field and the University Museum, and on toward the river. Could the University expand past the Schuylkill? "Always possible," he said. "But don't send property values up 10 percent across the river." The Medical Center complex is also considering expansion in the Civic Center section of the plan, as Zemsky announced at University Council. "[The Medical Center is] one of the most constipated facilities you will find anywhere," he said. "It does not work." University officials argue that the city will no longer need the Civic Center after construction of the new Pennsylvania Convention Center is completed in Center City. But so far, both city and Civic Center officials have said that there is probably room for both facilities and that there are no immediate plans to place the Civic Center on the market. · At this point, the 30-year plan seems to be Robert Zemsky -- Zemsky himself is the plan. No "hard copy" of the proposals will be available until at least next October. Zemsky said he fears rushing the proposals to print because it might cause people to take sides. "Lots of people have a stake in this," he said. "The real fear I have is that everybody locks into position. [Then] no creative solutions can be found." He said the proposals are intended to set up guidelines for changes which administrators cannot predict -- to act as a guide for future decisions, a book of etiquette for designing the function and aesthetics of the campus of 2020 and beyond.

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