By Houghton Daily

Mining Gazette staff

HOUGHTON — Michigan Technological University’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved a campus master plan that will guide the university’s development to 2035 and beyond.

The plan calls for several new or remodeled structures, as well as new placemaking features, networked collaboration spaces for faculty and students and an elevated student experience.

Thousands of faculty, staff and students gave input on the plan over the past two years through campus forums, surveys and committees. Board members also received a separate presentation on the plan over Zoom prior to Friday’s meeting.

Individual projects will still need to be approved by the board. The long-term plan is also subject to change, Reed said.

It arrives shortly after Tech welcomed a freshman class of 7,073 students, its second-largest since 1984.

Tech is aiming for annual student growth of 2.75% over the next 13 to 15 years, Tech’s vice president for university relations and enrollment John Lehman said at a Houghton Planning Commission meeting last month. Tech plans about 490 additional residence hall beds to accommodate some of that increase. The master plan calls for a new hall to be built on the east end of campus.

One part of the master plan is already being built — the new H-STEM Complex, which is projected to open in early 2024. The building will be shared by 10 departments, with collaborative spaces and shared equipment intended to spur multidisciplinary projects. As part of Tech’s effort to move towards experiential learning, Tech is deemphasizing larger lecture halls in favor of smaller spaces, tech said in the master plan.

Other features of the plan include:

• Expanded use of the waterfront. Industrial storage and a steam plant would be replaced by active open spaces, watercraft and a boat house, marina, warming hut, expansive open space and waterfront amenities. Interior elevators and exterior grand staircases would connect the waterfront to the campus core.

• The 175,000-square foot Center for Convergence and Innovation, which will house the business and computing colleges. Placing both colleges under one roof is intended to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship, Tech said in the master plan.

• An interdisciplinary academic commons, which will include makerspaces, studio laboratories, active classrooms and student support service.

• Renovations and expansion of the Memorial Union Building. Open space in front of the MUB and the library along U.S. 41 could include lawns and student activity spaces, public art and spaces to showcase broader community activities.

• Added capacity at the MacInnes Ice Arena, additional community and intramural locker room space at the Student Development Complex and an indoor field house for Tech’s new men’s soccer and women’s lacrosse programs.

One of the projects, the Center for Convergence and Innovation, was included in the five-year capital outlay plan the board approved Friday. The request is sent to the state for approval.

The $70 million project will include $29.9 million in state funds. Construction is slated to start in the 2023 fiscal year, concluding in 2026.

“The estimated investment of $70 million will allow Michigan Tech’s Colleges of Business and Computing to realize their combined potential and ensure Michigan’s future economic prosperity,” Tech said in its request.

The board also approved issuing $32 million in general revenue bonds to cover the first phase of renovations. They include classroom and teaching labs, the 11th floor of the R.L. Smith Building and the Keweenaw Research Center’s High Bay Building. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning improvements will also be made at the Student Development Complex and MacInnes Ice Arena. Parking improvements will also be made on Seventh Street.