University Envisions Mix of Academic, Research Space for Manhattanville

When Columbia announced its plans for a large-scale expansion into Manhattanville in 2004, what exactly it intended to do with the proposed 17-acre site was largely unclear.

While planning is still in the initial phases-and its success less than certain, as Columbia still faces significant community opposition and a litany of city approvals-the two years since the official announcement have brought more and more details about the University's plans for the space.

In preparing its Draft Scope for approval by the city, Columbia presented probable uses for each lot on the new campus, while emphasizing that it was merely an "illustrative plan" that remained subject to change.

By 2030, the University hopes to develop a total of 6.8 million square feet in 17 buildings ranging from seven to 20 stories-six academic buildings, seven research buildings, one retail building, and two residential buildings, presumably for faculty or grad student housing. An alternate plan shows one academic building at 125th Street and Broadway instead being developed into a hotel and conference center.

Out of a total of 6.8 million square feet, just over 2 million feet would be built underground-including parking and a swimming and diving facility,.

Two buildings-one academic and one research-would be built on the north side of 125th Street by 2015, while the rest of the plot would be developed by 2030.

The site would also contain 50,000 to 70,000 square feet of "privately owned, publicly accessible open space." How much control Columbia will maintain over the area remains unclear.

While they have laid out the general uses for each of the different buildings, University officials have been less than forthcoming on what specific schools and departments will move to Manhattanville-administrators say this is because these decisions simply haven't been made yet.

According to a University spokesperson, "The space in Manhattanville will give the University the ability to meet its emerging and future academic needs. We are still consulting with all relevant parties to determine the most appropriate matching of resources to academic needs and will continue to do so over the coming years."

But a few specific plans for the site have been revealed.

The research building on 125th Street that will be built in the first stage of the project will house the Jerome L. Greene Science Center, which University President Lee Bollinger said he hoped would be "the world's preeminent center for education and research in the neurosciences."

While its focus will be on neuroscience, the work of the center, funded by a $200 million gift from alumnus Jerome Greene's widow, will be interdisciplinary. "It's also people from psychology, economics, sociology-it's a combination of people who will have the space," Bollinger said.

For the science departments at Columbia, the potential for more lab and research space is a welcome development. The space crunch has hit subjects like biology, biological chemistry, and chemistry particularly hard. Professors said that current lab space is antiquated and that the needs of scientists cannot be met without more space and better facilities.

"If you let the sciences languish, you can never rebuild them," Higgins Professor of Chemistry Bruce Berne said. "Columbia is in pretty bad shape" in terms of facilities. While Berne said he thought that Manhattanville would help solve space problems in the long-term, he expressed concern about the department's more immediate needs.

Neuroscience professor Darcy Kelley said the additional lab space might help alleviate the department's biggest problem: its size.

"The problem for biology is not space needs but people needs," she said. While she said she is excited that the new center might give the department more lab space for hires, Kelley said she is unsure of what sort of impact the center will have on Morngingside's department.

"It is not clear who will move up there," she said. She said that she thought many more faculty from the medical school would move to the Morningside campus.

The campus would also contain a new building and associated studio, performance, and teaching spaces for the School of the Arts, the administrators of which say they are currently strapped for space. "The crunch is in terms of rehearsal space ... kills us," said Steven Chaikelson, chair of the theatre arts division of the School of the Arts.

The site would also include a public magnet school for math, science, and engineering, which will be run by the Department of Education in collaboration with Columbia.

Another possible candidate for relocation to Manhattanville is the Business School. "The Business School has discussed many options, Manhattanville is one of them," said Senior Executive Vice President Robert Kasdin.

John Kiker, the Business School's associate dean for Marketing and Communications was receptive to the idea, but noncommital. "If the Manhattanville campus is approved ... we would definitely examine that option," he said in a statement.

Tim Baldenius, David W. Zalaznick, Jr. associate professor of business, said that while he would welcome additional space at the Business School for classes and presentations, working on Morningside's campus provides opportunities to stay in touch with faculty from across schools and disciplines.

"I like the idea of [a] comprehensive campus with people from all different departments coming together," he said. He said that Manhattanville could one day grow into a campus like that, but that he was concerned that it might feel like "an outpost."

Members of other departments said they thought the expansion would do less to help them alleviate their problems.

For Columbia's English department, the space crunch is less a pinch than a tight squeeze. Joy Hayton, department administrator for the English department, said that English is particularly lacking office space. Assistant professors are expected to share offices, and junior professors are often moved from room to room.

"We don't even have a social space for our department meetings," she said.

Though she said she didn't believe the department would benefit immediately from the expansion, she added that the move up to Manhattanville might empty spaces that the English department could then occupy.

"We hear about a little space available, we go look at it," she said.

Rebecca Estes contributed to this  article.