Cleveland State University || Campus Master Plan || Background

Background

The Master Plan capitalizes on new opportunities and a new spirit of openness and collaboration at Cleveland State University.

Click image for a larger view of diagram of 1995 master plan.

Cleveland State University’s 1995 Master Plan, Pathways to Learning, analyzed campus facilities, expansion needs, and traffic patterns. The academic planning components of this earlier plan still hold true, but the new plan represents a critical shift in philosophy. While the 1995 plan is essentially an inward-looking document, the update focuses on how to connect the University to the surrounding community and to capitalize on opportunities for the University to collaborate with the private sector.

The scope of the Master Plan includes:

Identifying locations for new CSU facilities, including a College of Education, a Student Union, a Recreation Center, a Faculty Club, an Administrative Center, a new location for the bookstore, a field house, and a baseball field.
Improving the quality of campus life through better pedestrian access, enhanced on-campus open spaces, improved streetscape, and clearly defined, welcoming entries to the University core.
Assessing demand for residential, retail, and other development on or near campus and identifying appropriate sites for such development.

Today, CSU is primarily a commuter university. Of 11,000 undergraduate and 5,000 graduate and law students, only 450 live on campus in Viking Hall. Some students live in nearby downtown apartment buildings, but the vast majority commute from elsewhere in the City and surrounding suburbs. Because of the large percentage of commuters, parking and ease of access to the campus are key concerns. The campus currently has 4,729 parking spaces in structures and surface lots, and this is inadequate to meet demand during peak periods. Of the 120 acres that the campus covers, 25 acres are devoted to surface parking. Green space and landscaped areas comprise a similar percentage of the total campus area.

The combined area of campus buildings is 3.7 million square feet, including 18 academic buildings. Most buildings date from the inception of the University and are oriented around a raised central platform. Many of the academic buildings are connected by the InnerLink, a system of enclosed, elevated pedestrian walkways. In addition to the academic buildings, there are eight buildings devoted to administration and support, three parking garages, the Wolstein Center, and the bookstore.