Capital Campaign | Some money raised in campaign will finance eastward expansion

With tomorrow's launch of the long-anticipated public phase of the University's capital campaign following the acquisition of 24 acres of postal lands this summer, it seems like the stars are aligning for Penn.

Is it possible that the timing is nothing but a coincidence?

Actually, yes, says Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli: The two projects were developed apart from each other, but they managed to fit together quite nicely.

Though Carnaroli notes that though "probably not a large percentage" of capital-campaign funds will go to eastward expansion, there are certainly areas where the two cross paths.

Penn will use some fundraising dollars to develop 10 to 14 acres of current parking lot into Penn Park, a series of athletic fields and open park space.

Campaign revenue will be also used to refurbish space around the Palestra and construct a new fitness center at Franklin Field.

Additionally, the campaign will finance construction of a new nanotechnology building on 32nd Street, as well as a series of projects on campus, such as a new college house on Hill Field and a renovation of the ARCH building.

"One of the things that became very apparent was the real desire for green space and openness," Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations John Zeller said.

While Penn Connects - the name for the University's long-term development plan both on-campus and to the east - and the priorities of the capital campaign do overlap in spots, financing for eastward expansion will come from much more than the capital campaign, officials say.

Still, they are glad the campaign and expansion are coming together at the

same time.

"The acquisition of the postal lands created an opportunity for us to step back and do a campus master planning process," Zeller said. "I think once it became apparent that we could acquire it, then it began to be integrated into our planning."

"The capital campaign is energizing and activating the entire Penn community to take the University to even greater heights," Vice President of Facilities Anne Papageorge wrote in an e-mail. "At the same time, we are committed to transforming the physical campus via connections east to west."

None of the campaign dollars will finance the purchase of the postal lands.

Penn "anticipates private development [on the postal lands], as well as the University's internal resources that it can draw on," Carnaroli said.

Planning for the capital campaign began in 2001, while acquiring the postal lands has been discussed by University Board of Trustees since as early as 1982.

Documents from that time period indicate that "if the opportunity to acquire the postal lands should present itself, this institution should do everything within its power and its resources to make sure we were successful in getting it," Zeller said.

From a broader perspective, one of the overarching themes of Penn Connects and eastward expansion is to connect Penn to Center City.

"The downtown is really becoming Front Street to 40th Street, so the infill in the postal lands is really the hole in the donut," Facilities spokesman Tony Sorrentino said.

"When we fill in those industrial zones, it's going to make downtown Philadelphia that much bigger, with a world-class Ivy League university in the middle," he said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.