To a point, while each specifically may not be permanent, you can pretty much say around 30,000 18-24 year olds are always there 9-10 months of the year.
Cytown Update
- Thread starter norsemen
- Start date
Whether central campus has been encroached upon depends on your time reference and your definition of 'central campus'.
Starting at the northwest corner of Osborn and Morrill Road several large trees were cut down to build an auditorium between LeBaron and MacKay Halls.
On the northeast side of 'central campus' Troxel Hall was built just north of the Farm House and Jischke Honors to the west of the Farm House.
On the southeast side of 'central campus' many trees were cut down to build the Gerdin Business Building.
Going back further in time (1960's to early 1970's) on the southwest side of 'central campus' Carver Hall and the Music Building were built. However, I'm not sure if those two replaced earlier buildings or were 'new buildings' occupying formerly green space. That was before my time.
Now some new 'green space' has been created over the years like the west quad; located between Parks Library and Enrollment Services. That used to be parking lots and some Quonset huts.
But other green space has disappeared. The 'block of buildings' north of Beyer Hall used to be all green space. I believe the football team practiced there when Clyde Williams Field was the football stadium. Now you have Howe and Sukup Halls plus College of Design and Town Engineering in that space.
I recall seeing a planning document that proposed a 'north quad' to be located in the parking lots behind the Molecular Biology Building and Metals Development Building and Advanced Teaching and Research Buildings. That idea has never moved beyond a paper planning document.
One thing I would like to see is Morrill Road to extend north from Osborn Drive past Pammel Drive and then under the railroad tracks to the old west Pammel Quonset Hut village and curving east to meet up with Hawthorne Court Drive. Morrill Drive would then cross in the middle of the proposed north quad.
I would also like to see the campus acquire the blocks between Sheldon Ave and Hyland north of Lincoln Way.
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I imagine they are done filling in the green spaces in campus, on the engineering side they kinda crammed that Therkildsen building in there in an attempt to not disrupt the award winning campus...
If there is any need for a new building they should buy that empty lot on Lincolnway in campustown and build something there. Since whoever owns is just sitting on it.
If there is any need for a new building they should buy that empty lot on Lincolnway in campustown and build something there. Since whoever owns is just sitting on it.
At the time I thought the proposed mall on the northeast side of I-35 and 13th street was a good idea. Now two to three decades later, I glad it never happened. Look at how many malls are struggling. While today's North Grand Mall only gets a fraction of traffic that it once did, the proposed mall would have gutted North Grand Mall and most likely shuttered it. I think the 'proposed mall' located out away from town on the east side of I-35 would now be mostly vacant. But maybe if it had been built, there would have been new subdivisions built further east between Ames and Nevada.
WebCam - CyTown
www.fpm.iastate.edu
Before that there was a huge proposal to totally redevelop the block that has Cy’s roost and stuff that died for some other dumb reason.
I’ll believe any of this stuff happens when it’s fully constructed, not before.
Careful, I mentioned a while back that ISU would have been much better off it had been originally located in Ankeny rather than Ames and I got creamed.
Was it ever considering Ankeny?Careful, I mentioned a while back that ISU would have been much better off it had been originally located in Ankeny rather than Ames and I got creamed.
I thought it was Nevada versus Ames.. One got the county courthouse and the other got the Iowa State College.
I recall reading that but I thought the trade was with Boone.
I'm pretty sure Ankeny wouldn't even be a thing for at least a few decades after ISU was founded, so I'm guessing no.
I understand it to be that Boone was given the choice of a college or railroad and they chose railroad.
No idea the legitimacy of that "fact" however
Ankeny was founded in 1875, 17 years after ISU started.
Boone was founded in 1866, so it didn't exist in 1858 either.
Nevada was founded in 1853, so it could have been a consideration.
Nevada, Iowa - Wikipedia
ISU was either going to be in Ames, or Marshalltown from what I recall. Marshalltown had other things/developments in the works so they passed. Ames wins.
From the wonderful book "The Iowa State University Campus and Its Buildings: 1859-1979" by H. Summerfield Day:
From the Iowa State Sesquicentennial Celebration website:
These are the decisions that were made for where the state funded agriculture school was going to be. Keep in mind that these discussions were a few years before the passage of the Morrill Act, so all monies in 1859 would have been state and local.
Once the Morrill Act was passed in 1862, there was a brief consideration to use those federal dollars in or near Iowa City, but the infrastructure that was already being built in Story County ultimately won out.
From the Iowa State Sesquicentennial Celebration website:
These are the decisions that were made for where the state funded agriculture school was going to be. Keep in mind that these discussions were a few years before the passage of the Morrill Act, so all monies in 1859 would have been state and local.
Once the Morrill Act was passed in 1862, there was a brief consideration to use those federal dollars in or near Iowa City, but the infrastructure that was already being built in Story County ultimately won out.
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No, Ankeny was never in consideration 160+ years ago. I was just making a point about Ankeny's far more progressive approach to expansion and improvements vs Ames's approach. I believe you're right that Nevada might have been under consideration way back then.
I always heard Marshalltown had the choice and chose the Vet's Home.
Agree with your points, although the I-35 mall could have been similar to the Outlets of Des Moines at Altoona.
My main goal was to object to this false premise that it’s “ISU vs Ames” in terms of development and growth. It’s not accurate.
People who teach and work at Iowa State exert a huge influence on the direction of Ames, through their enthusiastic yea or ney votes at elections and bond issues, and their large presence on decision-making city boards and commissions.
