Drury University hired a New York City architecture and urban design firm known for its high-profile projects to lead a campus master-planning process for the liberal arts school.
Cooper Robertson’s
recent projects include a museum and visitor center for the Gateway Arch and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. For Drury, the firm will accept input before putting into effect a plan for the college’s design and development over the next several decades, according to a news release.
“In this process, the university and other stakeholders become part of the design team, taking part in a shared design vision and exploration,” said John Kirk, a partner with Cooper Robertson, in the release. “It’s a significant commitment by Drury to embrace, at the onset, the inclusivity of varied constituents and an impressively broad scope of impact.”
Next week, Cooper Robertson representatives will lead design discussions – dubbed charrette week and beginning April 17 – in the Hammons School of Architecture building to gather input, ideas and feedback. Drury officials expect participation by faculty, staff, students and Midtown residents, as well as representatives from the city, Greene County, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Springfield Association, the release said.
Drury officials declined to disclose the fees for hiring Cooper Robertson, but spokesman Mike Brothers said this morning the project will be covered by private donors to The Future Fund. First-year investments tally $1 million in the fund, he said, and the school’s goal is $3 million over three years.
Talks of a campus master plan have been ongoing for months, most recently formalized by a task force led by Drury trustees Kris Anderson, a retired construction executive who resides in St. Louis, and Rita Baron, the owner of Springfield firm Baron Design & Associates LLC. The campus task force, which includes other trustees and members of faculty and staff, has established guiding principles for the process and selected Cooper Robinson from a slate of nationally known firms, the release said.
Drury President Tim Cloyd has said the master plan fits into marketing revisions underway early in his tenure at the north-central Springfield school, 900 N. Benton Ave. Marketing efforts to strategically grow revenue and enrollment will stem from an established positioning platform, Cloyd told Springfield Business Journal editor Eric Olson during a January interview.
“That’s the main question right now for us, and everything else will flow from that – the master plan, the comprehensive campaign, our priorities, etc.,” he said during the
12 People You Need to Know live interview.
He also spoke to interests in beautifying the view of campus from the Chestnut Expressway bridge along the southern edge of the school’s property – where some warehousing structures are nestled against railroad tracks. Ozarks Technical Community College sits on the east side of the tracks.
School officials expect multiple phases and follow-up visits with Cooper Robertson staff in the next six months, leading to a presentation to the full board of trustees in October.
“This plan will help guide everything from pedestrian walkways and landscaping to the placement of future buildings to the design principles we will refer to when renovating or building the spaces where students learn, live and spend free time,” trustee Anderson said in the release.
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