Penn finally has a vision for eastward expansion.
Officials have announced their plan to develop the 24 acres of Postal Service land east of campus that the University will acquire next January.
The proposal includes additional residential space, research and teaching facilities and an extension of Locust Walk to Center City. University Provost Ron Daniels and Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli presented the plans to the University Council, an advisory body, last week.
Penn had hired international planning and design firm Sasaki Associates Inc. to assist the planning.
"What we will focus on a lot is considering everything in context of the entire campus," Carnaroli said. "This is not about creating a separate campus that happens to be next to the University of Pennsylvania."
The proposal, Daniels said, takes into account the needs of a variety of groups on campus.
Among the plans are a neural and behavioral sciences building at 38th Street and University Avenue and a nanoscience building next to the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter at 33rd and Walnut streets.
The School of Medicine would also receive additional research facilities under their proposal.
Another major element of the plan is to increase green space on campus.
Passive space -- open areas such as College Green -- would increase 13 percent by 2010 and recreational space for intramural sports would increase 10 percent under the plan. Athletic fields would not lose any additional space, and overall total open space would increase by 21.5 percent over the next four years, officials say.
Recreational facilities would be revamped in the coming years as well. The tennis courts in front of the Palestra would be moved to create additional green space, and Hutchinson Gymnasium would receive a new field house in addition to renovations.
An extension of Locust Walk, including a bridge to Center City, would be built to help increase Penn's "overall connectedness with the city," Carnaroli said.
The Locust Walk extension would pass over SEPTA train tracks, Carnaroli said. He added that both Amtrak and SEPTA have been involved with planning the extension.
The Walnut Street entrance to campus would also get a facelift under the plan, with a new cultural building and additional retail and graduate- student housing.
"Grad students, with their pattern of moving to Center City, would like to be more on the eastern part of campus," Daniels said.
Planners intend to slow the traffic flow into campus with additional intersections, smaller roadway signs and more parking facilities on the eastern part of campus.
"The subtle things you do ... make it feel more residential," Daniels said.
Retail and amenities would be expanded, particularly on the south side of Walnut Street. The area would become part of an integrated housing-office complex that will also include expanded child care, Carnaroli said.
Additional space for student needs would also be created. The ARCH building would be renovated for student use -- including food services and study space.
The eastern part of campus could host more large events; the plan includes building another hotel or conference space on Walnut Street.
The exact timeline and order for constructing projects in the course of the 30-year plan has not yet been set, but some of the "near-term priorities" include the construction of a new college house on Hill Field, the construction of the additional research and teaching facilities and work on the fields by the Schuylkill River.
Daniels added that fundraising will be done on a project-by-project basis. Facilities and Real Estate official Mark Kocent said some elements of the expansion plan will be funded by the city, state and outside developers.
Officials will create a price estimate over the next month.
The plan was presented to an executive trustees meeting on Wednesday and will be presented to the University Board of Trustees in June. The trustees, Penn's highest governing body, must approve major projects.
