As the new Welcome Center enters the first stages of construction faculty, students, and residents from the surrounding area have expressed worries. One concern is about the number and types of trees that are being cut down to make way for the new building. To help address these concerns a series of information sessions were held on March 2 to address and explain the process thus far. Everyone either entering or leaving the university campus via the main entrance on Wake Forest Road has noticed the large amount of clearing that has occurred in preparation for the construction of the new Admissions and Welcome Center.

Artistic Rendering Courtesy of Keith Callahan

The amount of forestry has decreased significantly in that area and this decrease has caused concern within the university’s community. The event was hosted by various members of the team with the job of planning and executing the construction of this new building.

This team includes members of faculty, administrators and members of the admissions department such as Martha Allman, director of admissions, and Tamara Blocker, senior associate director of admissions. Jim Alty, associate vice president for facilities and campus services, opened the discussion by outlining “the basic sequences of events that led to this decision.”

Alty gave a basic timeline: the idea came about in November, 2007, the construction plan was finalized in August, 2009 and the scheduled completion of the construction will hopefully be sometime in February 2011.

Moreover, Alty also stated that one of the points of the presentation was also to dispel some of the circulating myths that the construction was totally disregarding the plant life and basically that the constructers “slash and burned” the entire area.

Alty then went on to say that the “actual landscape impact was a deliberate process.”

Overall, the purpose of the presentation was to “make public” the plan of action regarding the construction of the building and its resulting impacts on the environment, which Alty says will be minimal and less severe than people assume.

A representative of Lambert Architecture and Interiors, the firm hire to be charge of the construction of this new building, was next to the podium.

One of the first ideas presented was what the team of planners wanted to change from the current admissions building, Starling Hall, in the new building. Currently, Starling Hall’s auditorium seats a mere 60 people.

As a result, this occasionally created around four admissions information sessions in a single day due to the growing number of visitors. The new admissions building is proposed to have an auditorium seating around 260 people.

Another important aspect that will be changed is the number of parking spots available. Currently, there are 58 parking spots at Starling Hall. The lack of parking available to visitors has led to a lot of complaints that were directed toward the admissions department. With the construction of the new building, parking will be increased dramatically to 138 spots.

While the need for enlargement is not the question, the size of the construction is. Due to the amount of clearing that needs to be done, only about 2.4 acres of original forest remain.

The types of trees that were cut down were mostly maples and some poplars and oaks, but none of the uprooted trees were hauled off to landfills. Instead, the majority of them were cut on the spot into mulch and then shipped to manufacturers.

Also, around 175 new trees will be planted towards the end of construction. Many of these newly planted trees will mirror the types and number that were cut down.

Overall, the impact on the surrounding environment, while it will exist and be negative to a certain and inevitable extent, it is not as severe as many of the rumors suggest.

“We do plan on having new Welcome Center to be tucked in among trees,” Alty said.

After about five years, all of the projected images show the Welcome Center looking like it belongs on campus.

Regarding the current barreneness of the area, Alty says, “time will heal all wounds in a certain sense, but it will take time after construction to make the welcome center look like rest of campus.”

On the whole, while the construction of the new admissions building will be severe and bring a temporary weight on the environmental health of the forest, in a few years the campus will retain it’s green and leafy image as a whole once again.