If university purchases plant, Wooded Hillock may be safe

The university is close to purchasing The Washington Post Company's College Park plant, potentially saving the 22.4 acres of forest known as the Wooded Hillock near Comcast Center originally planned for development.

The university had intended to relocate university facilities to the Wooded Hillock in order to clear space for the $900 million 38-acre East Campus development, which would bring stores, student housing and a music hall to Route 1. But after student and faculty outcry and resolutions opposing the plan from three separate governing bodies, the university is now planning to purchase the closed plant and use it for the relocation, according to a university press release.

The $12 million deal would still have to be approved by the state's Board of Public Works at its Feb. 10 meeting.

The plant, which is located on Greenbelt Road, is farther from the university than the hillock, which was originally selected partly based on its proximity to the campus. Vice President for Administrative Affairs Ann Wylie could not be reached for comment yesterday evening about how the increased distance would affect the project.

"This facility provides the space we need to strategically and cost-effectively phase in our East Campus relocation projects, minimize environmental impacts to campus woodlands and limit disruption to our critical campus services," Wylie wrote in the release.

During the past year, the Student Government Association and the Graduate Student Government both passed resolutions against the development. Perhaps the most important statement against construction on the hillock came at the end of last semester, when the University Senate voted 62-12 to preserve the area.

But the hillock's future remained uncertain. At the time, Wylie said there were "no good places" to relocate the buildings and she had "no idea" what the senate's vote would mean for the site.

"I'm glad that they listened to an overwhelming vote of faculty, staff and students that told them, ‘No, you can't demolish the last continuous forest on campus to build your shopping mall,'" said Bob Hayes, an undergraduate university senator for the engineering college.

Activists have argued the site is valuable for its environmental features, including its rare gravel deposits and native plant species. The hillock was hit by a tornado in 2001, making it an even more important place to study, professors have said. At least 14 faculty members have used or plan to use the hillock for instruction, and about 1,000 students per year visit the site for class, according to information provided by urban forestry professor Marla McIntosh.

While expressing their relief at the hillock's preservation, Hayes and Joanna Calabrese, chairwoman of the Student Sustainability Council, both said they were frustrated the university community was not consulted in the new site's selection. This sentiment dates back to the original selection of the hillock, a decision they said did not include enough students, faculty and staff.

"I do think it's unacceptable that we weren't kept in the loop and that none of this information was made public until now," Calabrese said.

And Hayes questioned the logic of buying the site as the university struggles to deal with a continuing budget crisis.

Despite the deal, the fate of the East Campus development remains murky. Foulger-Pratt/Argo, the university's main development partner on the project, withdrew in November, taking $15 million in relocation funds with it.

Nevertheless, the university remains firmly committed to the project.

"The East Campus Redevelopment initiative remains at the forefront of our efforts to build a world-class research institution for the residents of Maryland," Wylie wrote in the release.

Wylie said one of the key features of the Post site is the flexibility, which will allow the university to move East Campus facilities in phases. The piecemeal strategy will help to "secure developer interest ... while continuing to move the entire project forward," she wrote in the release.

cox at umdbk dot com