When Facilities Management finishes an extensive renovation of the old journalism building on McKeldin Mall, the structure’s environmentally friendly features won’t be the only thing going green in the area.
Lot D, the 22-space parking lot that adjoins the building, will be ripped out and converted into open green space to reduce storm-water runoff and add another space for students to relax outdoors, officials said.
The department’s Capital Projects division, under the direction of Carlo Colella, has been striving for LEED Gold certification in the journalism building’s renovations, which are scheduled to be completed by this summer.
Last week, the development team received approval from the Facilities Council to also revamp the parking lot — a portion of which is already closed to serve as a staging area for the journalism building’s renovation.
“Part of [this decision] was driven by an aspect of a sustainability agenda, kind of a landscape aesthetic agenda, and the opportunity available with a capital project,” Campus Development Coordinator Bill Mallari said.
“The staging areas are required to be back in good condition after they’re used. We thought maybe there was an opportunity to address it where there’s landscape enhancements.”
The area will be both more aesthetically attractive and environmentally friendly, not only by reducing impervious surfaces and adding landscaping to help absorb more rainwater but also by relocating the parking lot’s collection of metal trash and recycling bins into a new enclosure.
Mallari said the plans for the new space parallel those of the Facilities Master Plan, which is a work in progress.
“This is a project that was certainly in line with the philosophy of some of the things we have talked about in the master plan thus far,” he said. “But this is not a project coming out of the master plan because we haven’t finished it yet.”
But the addition of green space means the net loss of 22 parking spaces, which some students said can be detrimental to campus transportation.
“We desperately need parking, so it’s nice and all, but I don’t think [the green space is] the most necessary thing right now,” said Jacy Estep, a sophomore history major.
Senior computer science and mathematics major Sangduk Seo, who commutes to the campus, said he also prefers additional parking to aesthetic renovations.
“I’d rather have more parking because Maryland’s population is growing, so why would they cut down on parking now?” he said.
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