Posted February 16, 2000

Underhill Area Master Plan

Southside's Underhill parking structure, and the playing field on top of it, were demolished on short notice in 1993, after dangerous structural problems were discovered. The site -- bounded by Haste and Channing to the north and south, College Avenue to the east and Bowditch to the west -- has been a large sunken space, used as a parking lot, ever since.

In the process of planning for Underhill's renewal, the campus has hosted five well-attended public meetings to gather community input, and has met with the city of Berkeley Planning Commission.

The original proposal was to reconstruct the parking structure and field, and to add a central dining structure to replace the aging, seismically poor dining centers serving two large student residence hall complexes, Units 1 and 2.

The plan changed with last year's housing crisis. It now includes -- in addition to a parking structure, field and dining structure -- housing for 700 to 900 students. These units will be located within Unit 1 and 2; in a new apartment building at Channing and Bowditch, just west of the historic Shorb House; and in a new apartment building at College and Durant.

The environmental impact report will be completed by early March and the project will go to the Board of Regents for design approval in July. Construction would begin this summer.

Annex, Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy

The School of Public Policy hopes to start construction this fall on a new 11,000 square-foot annex. The new building -- holding two lecture halls, offices for 8 to 12 faculty and visitors, specialized space for one or more research centers, a student counseling area and small seminar rooms -- will be sited on the parking lot next to the school's current home, at Hearst Avenue and Le Roy Street.

"The school is engaged in a process of incremental growth," said Michael Nacht, dean of public policy, "and we hope to increase our faculty from 13 to 18, and to increase the number of students from 120 to 170 over the next few years."

The annex design, he says, "includes two beautiful new classrooms that are curved and banked, which promotes faculty-student interaction for case discussions."

The current building, a former fraternity house designed by Ernest Coxhead and built in 1893, is designated as a city landmark and was renovated and retrofitted last year. Because of the building's historic significance, the campus hired the Architectural Resources Group, headed by an eminent preservationist, to come up with a design for the annex that is compatible with the school's current home.

The proposed design has been endorsed by the Campus Design Review Committee. According to David Duncan of the Capital Projects Office, the campus has been in "constant consultation" with the State Office of Historic Preservation on the design plan, and is presenting the plan to the City Landmarks Preservation Committee and the city of Berkeley Design Review Committee for their input.

Seismic Replacement Building #1

Part of the SAFER program, this building at the south end of the Oxford Tract, at Oxford Street and Hearst Avenue, would provide space for instruction and research while other campus buildings are being seismically retrofitted. It is conceived as a highly flexible facility that can house a wide variety of users over a period of ten or more years. The four-story building would have parking underneath, replacing lost parking inventory and spaces displaced by the construction program.

The concept for the building has been presented to the community in several venues over the past two years. An environmental impact report was published Feb. 11. If approved, construction would begin in 2001.

February 16 - 22, 2000 (Volume 28, Number 22)
Copyright 2000, The Regents of the University of California.
Produced and maintained by the Office of Public Affairs at UC Berkeley.
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