Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich
Reading the article, I'm still a bit unsure about something. Aside from them definitely tearing down the Elmwood Apartments, is what's being built there a replacement for both the demolished apartment and existing three dormintories in the Southern Neighborhood, or just a replacement for the demolished apartments? In my mind, they could probably just upgrade the existing dormitories while still replacing the low-rise apartments.
|
Reading between the lines in WMU's press release and other news sources, I'm guessing that the three large residence halls will remain, and only the World War 2-esque Elmwood 'barracks' will be going. It's just a guess, but I would think the University will upgrade (and not destroy) these three.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich
Also - and this is more of a general observation than anything - but I hate how the Amtrak/NS line divides campus like that. I think I'm particularly bothered, because it doesn't even serve anything on campus, not a passenger station, or a power plant, or a warehouse, nothing. Though, I imagine the line predates much of the campus. It'd have just been so cool had it not been there and the campus have developed retail and such on Stadium Drive.
|
Could not agree more. The long-established railroad infrastructure in this town is a reality that has had widespread effects on urban planning throughout the city as a whole. It continues to constrict efforts to connect edges of different districts together, and there is no easy fix. Stadium Drive could have developed very differently if not for those tracks - something more akin to West Michigan Ave. - walkable, pedestrian-oriented. As it is now, it is a pretty barren stretch of business loop highway in the middle of the city. The railroad really cuts off the University (and K-College) from the downtown and parts east.