About the Master Plan
Master Plan Principles
As the 2002 master plan evolved from visioning through development of land use concepts, themes emerged that were tested and refined and ultimately distilled into the following set of overarching principles. These principles – which apply to both the Volker and Hospital Hill campuses – remain relevant to the 2008 update. They establish the physical framework for realizing the University’s four strategic goals—create a vibrant learning and campus-life experience, deepen and expand strength in the arts, lead in the life sciences, and engage in urban issues—and address both the internal organization of the campus and its relationship to the surroundings.
These principles, tied to the University’s strategic goals, govern the specifi c proposals of the 2008 Campus Master Plan Update.
Planning Principles
Create a vibrant learning and campus-life experience
- Develop future academic functions within the academic core
- Develop student apartments and student support services on Hospital Hill
- Enhance and develop open spaces and greenways within the campus
Deepen and expand strength in the arts
- Develop a signature Cultural Arts District along the Volker campus northern edge at Cherry Street, Volker Boulevard, and Rockhill Road
Lead in the life sciences
- Create a campus identity on Hospital Hill for the health sciences
- Identify expansion sites for academic use or related functions that support the city’s Life Sciences Initiative
Engage in urban issues
- Encourage and enhance retail activity at the Volker campus Troost Avenue edge, and as part of the Oak Street West Development.
- Pursue partnership opportunities, both physically and programmatically, outside the campus boundary, within Kansas City:
- UMKC/KCMO Partnerships:
- Off-campus Athletics/Recreation
- Hospital Hill: Troost Avenue/25th Street and Charlotte Street/25th Street sites
- UMKC and Others:
- Troost Bridge and Corridor, Plaza East Development, South Plaza Neighborhood, and 51st Street to Main Street
- Pedestrian linkages with Linda Hall Library
- Pedestrian linkages with/through campus, neighborhoods, and Brush Creek Corridor
- Pursue special opportunities for the Epperson House and site
- Partner with the Rockhill Crest neighborhood and KCMO for joint use and enhancement of the Rockhill Crest neighborhood in conformance with a framework of commitments established by the Volker Neighborhood Council
