UND needs more land -parking/intramurals/expansion

[star2city]

Happened to come across this article Columbs (GA) hopes to move railyard out of downtown

During a news conference at the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce headquarters in the old train depot, U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland announced a $250,000 federally funded study that will determine the cost and feasibility of moving the 88-acre Norfolk Southern rail yard along Sixth Avenue out of downtown and into a rural setting.

....

the project could cost from $15 million to $25 million, but past estimates for the land purchase, cleanup and relocation project have been more than $50 million. Part of the uncertainty in the cost lies in the ground underneath the rails, which many believe to be contaminated with fuel from the trains and other materials they carry. The more toxic the ground, the more costly the cleanup.

After reading this, seems UND (and Grand Forks) could really use a page out of Columbus' book. Right now, UND is in dire need of more parking spaces, room to expand near the heart of campus, and intramural fields. The EERC needs more real estate and the athletic deparment could use more practice fields near Memorial if the indoor practice facility is built nearby.

Instead of UND building a parking ramp for $19 mil, the city of GF building a $15 mill 42nd street underpass, and UND being hemmed in, couldn't the railyards be considered for relocation to the west side of town, in the alkali area, like south of the airport, where land is cheap anyway.

It would seem this would be a win-win arrangment for everyone: valuable land underneath the railyard could be redeveloped and a new BNSF railyard gets built on cheap land with truck and air access with an adjoining industrial park. Instead of spending $30+ million on projects that really don't add value to UND or the city, why not redirect that funding towards a railyard relocation project that could pay major dividends for GF's, UND's, and BNSF's growth?

[dakotadan]

I didn't really want to start a new thread for this article but thought it fit here pretty well. The Fargo Forum had an article today about the NDSU Foundation buying homes along North University Drive. The only reason this caught my eye is because I have often wondered why we don't hear about UND doing this more often.

As star2city pointed out, UND is very land locked, railyards to the south, I-29 to the west, and the residential area to the east. With the recent development of the Bronson property, the most logic place for UND to grow is from University Ave towards 6th. I don't know if UND already owns some of the residential homes in the area. But for the price of the proposed parking ramp, UND could buy alot of these houses over the next few years. For now, parking lots could be made to help with the parking problem not only on campus but also for when events are going on the Engelstad. I know alot of these houses have been bought recently by parents of UND students for their child to live in and pay for them by friends living there and paying rent.

Now nobody needs to jump on me because they live in the area. I am not saying that UND should go in, buy all of these houses and tear em down right away. UND could purchase these properties over the years as they go on the market. In the long run it would create room for UND to eventually build a second quad with classroom space. More classroom space is already needed and with UND looking to create new programs and expand it's research in the future, more room will eventually be needed.

[url="http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=112599

[BigGreyAnt41]

MSU-Moorhead did that a few years ago (probably 8-9 years by now). They built a couple new buildings, and needed more parking so they bought some houses, moved them somewhere else in town, and put down parking lots where the houses were.

Ever since I've been in school here I've realized this is something that the university should be doing. Whether or parking, or more dorms, I think it's a good idea.