Trees demolished making room for new building
by Alicia Sharp
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

The clearing of trees and proposed renovations to the Bayou Building for a new north entrance have raised concerns about the construction of the new Student Services and Classroom Building.

"A lot of us were upset," said Keith Parsons, associate professor of human sciences and humanities. "It is disturbing to see so many trees gone. It was a lot more than I expected. I hope it is a really nice building. One of the things I liked about my view was the trees."

"In front of the Bayou Building, I would guess we had between 15 and 20 quality trees removed," said Daniel Wilson, UH-Clear Lake director of planning, design and contract administration. "To the north, where the thick undergrowth that defines the Bayou lawn, only about three trees of caliper greater than 7 inches came out. Probably hundreds of small caliper trees, less than 3 inches, came down because it was too thick in there to let any one tree thrive. All of the trees removed were either within the footprint of the new building, within 25 feet of the perimeter or within what will be a plaza roughly 4 feet above the present grade."

Wilson said loggers cut back the entire university's tree population in the 1850s and the 1930s, which resulted in a low quality re-growth of trees. He said that stunted growth is common due to trees starting from bare earth.

"For flood plain reasons and to meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, project civil engineers determined that the new building should be built at the same level as the existing Bayou Building and that the connecting plaza, the 'heart of the campus,' should be raised to the same level," said William Staples, president of UH-Clear Lake, in a March 21 e-mail to university personnel. "This meant that the new landscape in this area would be graded to a level about 4 feet higher than it currently exists; therefore, trees and vegetation in what is presently a low-lying area, would have to be removed."

"If you've ever really looked at the area of the new building, it was a swamp," said Terry Dupler, associate professor of fitness and human performance. "Raising the ground elevation necessitated the removal of many of the other trees. To be perfectly blunt about it, most of the trees in that area were trash trees anyway."

Plans to preserve the campus call for the replanting of trees and shrubs alongside the new building.

"The new building will be screened by trees on all sides and surrounded by a verdant setting true to the natural ambiance that so distinguishes and sets our campus apart from all others," said Staples in his e-mail.

UH-Clear Lake's campus is known for its natural setting, adorned with trees and filled with wildlife.

"The university recognizes the environmental and aesthetic importance of its tree population, and the decision to remove trees in this area was a difficult one," said Staples in his e-mail.

More than 90 percent of the campus' nature preserve area will remain.

Renovations to the Bayou Building will provide an additional entrance to the new building from the north wall.

The design involves cutting into the first and second floor outside walls.

"The first floor entrance will take space out of the second floor in order to maintain the 'look' of the Bayou Building," said Glen Houston, associate vice president for information resources.

"The space 'subtracted' from the potential total of the Miesein cube at the student and faculty entrances total about 27,000 square feet, the space converted to the north entrance will be about 3,700 square feet," Wilson said.

"The Bayou Building was designed to maintain the architectural integrity of the original Bayou design and to give some modest scale to what will become perhaps the most used and approached entrance to the Bayou Building," Wilson said. "The Bayou Building is a classic international style building in the fashion exemplified in this country by the late architect Mies Van derRohe."

Completion date for the new Student Services and Classroom Building is intended for summer 2004. It will be located on the north side of the Bayou Building between Bayou Road and Middlebrook Road.

Planning for the new building has taken place over the last ten years. Details on the project can be viewed in Atrium II of the Bayou Building beside the elevators.

"We are building a Student Services and Classroom Building because there is a greater demand for classes, especially from 4 to 10 p.m., than we have space for," said Darlene Biggers, associate vice president of student affairs. "We also needed more space to provide additional services to students that would be in a more convenient location."

The new building is not affected by UH-Clear Lake's budget problems.

"Currently, the new building is being funded through tuition revenue bonds and increased student fees," Biggers said.

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