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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 12, 2004
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124
MUW Campus Master Plan landscaping will create pleasing and secure
feelingCOLUMBUS, Miss. – The recently renovated Parkinson Hall is
the first building to be landscaped in association with Mississippi
University for Women’s Campus
Master Plan, which will create a dynamic living and learning
environment for students.
The $13,000 landscaping plan for Parkinson calls for some old-fashioned
plant material along with newer varieties, according to Richard Wright,
MUW landscape operations manager, who earned his degree in horticulture
from Mississippi State University. Wright has about 28 years of experience
in the field and has owned nursery businesses.
Clay base was removed during the holidays and planting of the landscape
is under way.
Wright said, “Pedestrian traffic flow was one of the factors considered
as part of the plan. The landscaping will allow for a pleasing and secure
feeling.” Attention also was given to fragrance and color with gardenias
and crepe myrtles as part of the plan.
Plants were purchased from a grower along the coastal areas. Trees and
other plant material were purchased from growers in Tennessee.
“There will be some plants used that we do not have on campus at the
present time. We are beginning to use some different plant material in
order to upgrade the arboretum status of the university,” Wright said.
Parkinson landscaping completion is expected this month. The
recently unveiled Campus Master
Plan outlines MUW’s vision for the future. Funding, totaling $35
million, for the first phase has already been identified.
MUW President Claudia Limbert said, “All great enterprises begin with a
great plan and this facilities master plan is that great plan. MUW has a
solid history behind it and an even more promising future ahead as we
continue to meet the needs of our students through our beautiful,
functional campus as well as through our highly rated academic programs
and our student-oriented service.”
A highlight of the plan is the creation of a recreation district that
consists of the replacement facilities for the Physical Education Assembly
Building (PEAB)—with the addition of an outdoor pool and elevated indoor
walking track, open green space, tennis courts, etc.
Another detail of the plan is to develop the intersection of Serenade
Drive and Fifth Avenue as a pedestrian-oriented campus square with a cyber
café addition to the library, a new recreation center and eventually the
addition of a new campus center.
The plan also calls for the renovation of Barrow School into loft
apartments and the constructions of single-family housing units on the
perimeter of that block.
The first phase of the Campus
Master Plan is expected to take one to five years and carry MUW 20
years into the future.
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