Ideas Fair-Outdoor Areas Around the SUB

Description

The area around the SUB is informally the social heart of our campus. Campus and Community Planning (C+CP) organized consultation activities to seek students’ ideas and input on how they would like to use the outdoor spaces in this area. Participant feedback will help inform the program planning that is taking place as part of the redesign process for these areas. 

Public Consultation

The public consultation process was an important step towards ensuring the programming and design of the outdoor areas around the SUB meet the campus community’s needs. Participants were asked to submit ideas and their preferences for  potential activities that can take place in these areas. Several public consultation activities occurred between June 18 and October 10, 2014:

1. An online AMS Clubs questionnaire which ran from June 18 to July 18;
2. An ideas booth at the Student Administration Commission (SAC) Wine and Cheese on September 11; and 
3. An Ideas Fair which ran from September 22 to October 10 online, with an in-person public event on October 2, which was held at the plaza outside the Bookstore on University Boulevard.

The ideas submitted during the consultation ranged from topics related to: art and installations, events and festivals, community gardens, food and markets, outdoor furniture, performance spaces, sports, and design ideas for the areas. Participants also voted on preferred activities. The activities that received the highest votes included concerts, outdoor movies, hammocks, art installations and an ideas wall.  

Next Steps

The feedback from this consultation will inform the program planning for the areas around the SUB. They may also be used to inform programming and design considerations for other areas on campus that are undergoing public realm improvements in the future.
The final designs for these areas will be made over the next few years, as each of these projects move forward. The University Commons area is the first area that will be redesigned. Project construction for University Commons is scheduled to begin this winter.