After several years of university administrations creating a strong dichotomy between “academic institution” and “community,” UW’s Director of Governmental Affairs Mike Massie said the current cosmetic construction taking place on the Visual Arts Building was prompted by a shifting administrative mindset.
In response to the high number of concerns and comments received from Laramie residents by the university, construction efforts to replace all the steel siding on the Visual Arts Building with sandstone were approved during the tenure of President Robert Sternberg during the 2013 Fall Semester.
“The current administration is in a process of transition right now,” Massie said.
While public involvement is far from total, Massie said steps are being made to avoid scenarios such as the dissatisfaction displayed towards the exterior of the Visual Arts Building.
Initial design and construction on the Visual Arts Building began during the tenure of former university President Tom Buchanan. Once construction of the building, located on 22nd Street and Willet Drive, was completed, the university began to receive complaints and comments in regards to the siding materials used on the backside of the structure, Massie said.
“The concern seemed to be pretty much the same thing,” Massie said. “This building has three of its four sides very visible to street traffic and people began to wonder why the sandstone used to complete the front of the building wasn’t on the back.”
All buildings on campus are public buildings constructed with the use of public funds. A level of community involvement is usually the norm for such projects, Massie said. However, in the case of the Visual Arts Building, along with several other construction projects that commenced and were completed during President Buchanan’s administration, the university sought no public involvement.
“To put it bluntly, the administration at the time did not welcome public input,” Massie said. “There was no solicitation of the public in order to garner feedback or comments on the design of the building.”
Massie said not all university construction projects merit the same degree of public comments on initial designs. Structures located in the heart of campus, such as the Business Building, are constructed with a more classical academic design in mind in order to create a sense of architectural continuity on the main campus. Buildings such as these impact the overarching community of Laramie residents relatively little in regards to aesthetic preference.
“The location and orientation of the Visual Arts Building has created a scenario where residents of the community are seeing much more of his building on their drives than many other university structures,” said Massie.
Marina Tinkcom, a senior in the anthropology department, said that there are other factors which the university needs address before giving deference to a specific group.
“There’s more than one audience that has to be considered when designing these buildings,” Tinkcom said. “There’s the residents of Laramie itself along with prospective students and their parents.”
While the public concerns over campus buildings’ designs are important for the current administration to take into account, Tinkcom said she thinks the opinions students and educators who use the facilities should take precedence.
“I think if a building functions pragmatically then it’s not really a big deal,” said Tinkcom. “I mean, as the students we’re the ones who use these buildings and yet none of us really go out of our way to voice any problems we have with these buildings.”
A few weeks ago, members of the City Council were given an in-depth tour of campus complete with projections for future construction. Massie said this as an important first step towards a more symbiotic relationship between academic institute and the community wherein it thrives.
“Ideally I would love to see open forums and community meetings with large amounts of public attendance,” said Massie. “The interior of the buildings’ designs are primarily geared towards the needs and comments of students and educators, but the exterior of these buildings do impact the greater public, and I think that’s important to consider.”
