Heavy equipment has begun clearing land for what will be
Central Oregon’s first four-year university campus on Bend’s west side -- even
as a group opposing the selected site takes its case to the state Court of
Appeals after setbacks in earlier appeals.
OSU-Cascades officials announced June 18 they would start
construction “as soon as required permits” were issued by the City of Bend.
By the week of June 29 equipment was on site and workers
were cutting trees and moving dirt for construction roads. The date was
significant in that it was the deadline for a group of mostly west side
residents opposed to the campus to file an appeal with the state Court of
Appeals.
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| Site preparation is underway at the OSU-Cascades campus |
The site opponents, acting under the umbrella Truth in
Site, had earlier lost appeals of the city’s approval of the first phase campus
by the city, and a subsequent appeal rebuffed by the state Land Use Board of
Appeals.
One spokesman was reported by local media to say the
opponents would take their fight to the Oregon Supreme Court. However, by July 4 the latest action item posted on the Trust in Site website was before the LUBA decision.
OSU-Cascades has already delayed start of the proposed
campus on 10 acres on the northwest corner of NW Chandler Avenue and NW Century
Drive pending the earlier appeals.
To accommodate the first group of approximately 100
students in Fall of 2015 the university will provide classes and housing at facilities
of Central Oregon Community College and other classes at the OSU-Cascades Graduate
& Research Center on Colorado Avenue.
In a statement issues June 18, OSU President Ed Ray noted
that every delay of construction would mean, “..another group of young people
leave Central Oregon to seek a four-year university degree, and many never
return.”
Bend and Central Oregon is has the largest population of
any area in the state without a university, Ray emphasized, but a 30-year
“aspiration...is finally being realized.”
OSU Cascades Vice President Becky Johnson said the start
of construction could make it possible for students could attend classes and
live on the new campus site by the Fall of 2016.
The initial 10-acre campus will have two buildings, one a
113,000 square foot dormitory and dining center and the other a 43,650 square
foot academic building, altogether designed to accommodate 1,890 students.
At issue with opponents of the site is the lack of a
master plan for an adjacent 46-acre site, known as the pumice mine property, on
which the university has a purchase option.
Although opponents argued the university should have developed
a master plan including the larger site, both the hearing officer and state
LUBA decisions ruled otherwise.
Even with the appeal to the state Court of Appeals,
Johnson said in announcing the start of construction that, “Oregon state is confident
that significant construction progress can be made while a potential appeal is
being considered and still allow the university to adjust to changes that could
result from an unlikely remand or reversal by the Court of Appeals.”
