Organizations seeking to create a vibrant and viable future rely on a master plan to direct their growth. Appalachian State University is no exception. Every few years, the institution invests in research by expert consultants for recommendations on how to guide its long-term development in ways that support the strategic goals of the institution and community.
App State is working with architecture firm LS3P — as well as their consulting teams from engineering company Dewberry and higher ed consultancy firm Brightspot Strategy — to create a new master plan that will serve as a living, guiding document for the strategic growth and development of App State’s Boone and Hickory campuses.
The planning process for the new master plan is underway and will include broad-based input from faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members.
Implementation of the new plan’s ideas will depend on many factors, including:
- Available funding.
- Changing needs.
- Emerging opportunities.
Master Plan 2025
App State’s current plan, Master Plan 2025, was developed as a living document by Duda | Paine Architects and designed to guide the physical development of the university over the next 20 years. The 192-page document offers recommendations for improving campus in support of App State’s strategic plan. It was approved by App State’s Board of Trustees on March 24, 2017.
Duda | Paine Architects used six guiding principles (page 34) in carefully analyzing the Boone campus and its future enrollment growth, as well as existing construction and renovation projects and changes in pedagogy and sustainable practices. The firm’s staff also gathered input from campus and community members in a series of public meetings held on campus in October 2016. In its final report, Duda | Paine Architects presented recommendations of new buildings, road upgrades and open space enhancements in the form of five campus objectives:
- Create a sense of place and a central gateway (page 41).
- Enhance Rivers Street (page 41).
- Unite the two halves of campus (page 41).
- Foster community and mixed-use partnerships in west campus and the athletics neighborhood (page 41).
- Support innovation and collaboration at the bookends of campus (page 42).
The Master Plan 2025 also offered more than 40 specific projects, with suggested implementation timelines (page 117) of zero to five years, six to 10 years and 11 to 15 years.
Completed and in-progress Master Plan 2025 projects include the Innovation District, Levine Hall of Health Sciences, Holmes Convocation Center Parking Deck, Sanford Hall Renovation, the residence halls project on the west side of the Boone campus, Kidd Brewer Stadium’s north end zone facility, the Peacock Hall addition and renovation, Boone Creek Daylighting, Founders Plaza, Blue Ridge Way and Arts Corridor.
