OSU-Cascades campus expansion set to begin
The OSU-Cascades campus in Bend is less than a week away from starting the first phase of its major expansion.
This phase of the project will add 46 acres to the existing campus.
At a groundbreaking celebration Wednesday morning, OSU-Cascades Vice President Becky Johnson spoke to a crowd of around 60 on the former pumice mine, sharing the plans for this part of the project.
This first expansion phase is expected to be completed in summer 2021, and is expected to add 500 students.
We were told it will include:
· Site remediation and reclamation to transform the mine and landfill into developable lands. This includes raising the floor of the former mine 40 to 50 feet .
· Campus infrastructure including streets, sidewalks and parking, as well as features including an amphitheater and an oval green.
· Off-campus infrastructure that will benefit the surrounding growing community : .
-A new roundabout at SW Colorado Avenue and Columbia Street.
-A new pedestrian/bike path from the future campus entrance on SW Simpson Avenue to SW Century Drive.
· A 50,000-square-foot academic building devoted to STEAM disciplines of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. It will include classrooms, labs, maker spaces and collaborative spaces.
Johnson said they’ve worked to minimize the impact construction will bring.
” We’re not trucking materials, ” Johnson said. ” It’s thousands of truck trips we’re avoiding by using material that’s already in here (the landfill). ”
Another public concern they’re addressing is dust control.
” We’re very aware of the dust issues we have in Central Oregon, ” she said. ” So there will be a lot of water tankers, a lot of water put down here on a regular basis to keep dust down. ”
Between two legislative sessions, the campus was allocated $48 million — $9 million to remediate the landfill and $39 million to build a new academic building.
Johnson said they don’t have enough money at present to remediate the entire landfill, and that will come later.
To learn more about the expansion plans, visit: https://osucascades.edu/campus-expansion.
