The Education Corridor - A history of partnership
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 14 years, 6 months AGO
The June 10 groundbreaking for the Education Corridor turned more than a few shovels' full of earth - it turned a corner in what has been nearly a decade of community partnership.
It was on May 23, 2002, that a memorandum of understanding was signed by the city of Coeur d'Alene, North Idaho College, the University of Idaho, and the Lake City Development Corporation to develop a master plan for an education corridor along the Spokane River.
Lewis-Clark State College later joined this planning effort. After years of collaborative work, a master plan for the corridor was created (http://lcdc.org/ePage/EdCorrPlan/EdCorrPlan.html) with this collective vision:
"To establish a multi-institution campus that is built on strong partnerships and provides high quality academic opportunities, joint student services, and shared facilities and management responsibilities for the residents of Northern Idaho by capitalizing upon pooled demand and opportunities for synergy and efficiency.
Future development will improve multi-modal access, circulation, and parking for the Coeur d'Alene Education Corridor, adjacent neighborhoods, and the waterfront."
The education corridor will transform the former DeArmond Mill site, a 17-acre parcel located on the east bank of the Spokane River, which was recently purchased by NIC and annexed into the city last year. Its design promotes innovative modes of connectivity - pedestrian, bike, auto, and bus -- where walkways and bikeways are also linked to a major regional bike trail.
The plan encourages community and stakeholder collaboration, and fosters distinctive communities with a strong sense of place. The plan also preserves open space, parks, and environmentally critical areas, as well as public access to the Spokane River.
As demonstrated by the decision to develop a joint campus at a relatively small site rather than converting farmland on the Rathdrum Prairie, the plan strengthens and directs development towards existing communities, adopting compact building patterns and efficient infrastructure design in one of the city's oldest neighborhoods.
The existing, over 45-acre NIC campus lies immediately south of the former mill. One challenge in redeveloping the area is keeping the wastewater treatment plant in its present location. Previous and current expansion projects have incorporated architectural features that provide pleasing aesthetics consistent with any future campus-type settings.
Additionally, the current $15 million expansion will reuse biogas produced by the plant to heat six additional structures.
The Mayors' Institute on City Design awarded CdA a grant to further study the education corridor project through the MICD Alumni Technical Assistance Program in 2009.
After listening to a broad spectrum of community members and stakeholders, urban planning experts with the MICD unveiled a comprehensive design of the education corridor, linking it with CdA's downtown (http://lcdc.org/ePage/MICD/MICD.html).
In 2010, utilizing the earlier master planning effort, JUB Engineering designed road locations and related campus infrastructure improvements.
Construction on Phase 1-A of the project will begin within a matter of weeks. Phase 1-A includes the construction of roadways that will connect the Education Corridor on the site of the former DeArmond Mill, including roundabouts, sidewalks, curbs, and a signal at Hubbard and Northwest Boulevard.
Major roads are expected to be complete by Aug. 19 for the start of the fall semester at NIC, while other projects are not expected to be completed until later in 2011.