A Newsletter for the Neighbors of the University of California, Berkeley |
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Memorial Stadium retrofit part of renaissance for southeast campus
Hailing it as “the centerpiece of a sweeping new vision” for the campus’s southeast corner, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau has unveiled a preliminary plan to renovate Memorial Stadium, better integrate athletics and academics, and revitalize the Piedmont Avenue-Gayley Road vicinity with pedestrian plazas and landscaped open spaces. Proposed by the Memorial Stadium Advisory Committee, the plan is still in its conceptual stages — just far enough along to begin the “quiet phase” of fundraising efforts. Detailed schematic drawings and reliable cost estimates should be available by this fall. As part of an ongoing conversation on the stadium, the community will have both informal and formal opportunities to comment this spring, summer, and fall. Beyond upgrading and improving the seismic safety of the 82-year-old home of the Golden Bears, the plan envisions a new academic commons building across the street, intended to serve the Boalt Hall School of Law, the Haas School of Business, and the athletics program. New landscaping; historic preservation; and improvements to pedestrian safety, disabled access, and bicycle routes will cap the area’s renaissance. The stadium renovation, to be accomplished within the existing footprint, will give Bears and their boosters a safe, first-rate facility that preserves the historic character of the aging arena. “This is a smart, skillful approach that addresses all of our goals for the stadium, provides critical new facilities for law and business, and achieves our larger desire to integrate and enhance the various dimensions of students’ lives,” said Chancellor Birgeneau. |
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