STARKVILLE — Mississippi State is in for another facelift following their new master plan. This time, the university is planning decades in advance, according to Executive Director of Campus Services Saunders Ramsey.
This past Friday morning, Ramsey presented the university’s master plan to the Starkville mayor and board of aldermen. This master plan was finalized in August of 2022 and contains three guiding design principles: enriching student experiences, creating inclusive destinations, and transforming both the outdoor and indoor environment.
But Ramsey said another philosophy is also guiding MSU’s master plan: connection to the region.
“It’s valuable to me because it’s Mississippi State acknowledging that connections to us are valuable to the region,” Ramsey said. “I think in the past, we weren’t real comfortable with connectivity. It was more about protection and boundaries. But now we’ve started to realize that if we can participate in the ability to seek funding, construct it, and connect, that it helps the region.”
Specifically, MSU has acknowledged the importance of the city and county through its roads. Ramsey referred to the $2.5 million dollars spent to connect Artesia to Hail State Boulevard as an example of that emphasis on regional connection.
“MDOT hired Neel-Schaffer to do a regional transportation plan including the city, county, and Mississippi State,” Ramsey said. “We all ranked our priorities and needs. Artesia Road was the highest priority for regional connections. Two years ago, we received $2 and half million dollars to construct this Artesia Road connection to Hail State Blvd.”
The university is also prioritizing connection to the city through what Ramsey called the “Arts and Cultural Corridor,” which connects to University Drive. In the master plan, the Arts and Cultural Corridor of the will be extended closer to the Cotton District, Mill District, and downtown Starkville.
Ramsey said one way the corridor will expand is through the relocation of the College of Architecture, Art, and Design programs to the Hunter Henry Alumni Center.
“We’re making sure we’re doing all we can do to connect our cultural and arts corridor to you, so we can make sure we have a consistent message all the way through,” Ramsey said.
Though the university is prioritizing connection to the region, they are also de-emphasizing roadways within the campus to encourage pedestrian travel. Several changes have already been implemented to reinforce this, including the installation of traffic gates, narrowing of roads, and revitalization of sidewalks.
“The story we tell here is that 10 or 15 years ago, this was a north/south vehicular route,” Ramsey said. “In the master plan, we have a heat map of… student growth, and this has turned into an east/west pedestrian crossing. A simple planning effort of a road many years in advance has allowed us to change the interior of campus.”
Ramsey said the gates that have been added to campus have calmed down conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles, and have made Hardy Street into an almost “ghost town.” Ramsey predicts a “reimagining” of Hardy Street in the next few years.
The MSU master plan also prioritizes student wellness through something Ramsey called the “wellness link.” In this link, a line can be drawn from the north side of campus to the south side that includes all of the resources for students to care for their physical and mental wellness, including the Sanderson center and another wellness center that will be constructed in the future.
This prioritization of student wellness also means an additional emphasis on outdoor spaces, according to Ramsey. He said the look of the outdoor spaces on campus have changed, not just for aesthetic reasons, but to also encourage student involvement.
“This is something that has significantly changed over the past three years,” Ramsey said. “Places for people to gather, to spend time with people they don’t know shoulder to shoulder and face to face. I said in an interview… we’re giving students back the time they don’t know they have.”
Mayor Lynn Spruill reacted to the master plan with excitement, as she said the connection between the city and the university is important to the growth of each.
“The city and the campus rise and fall together,” Spruill said in a text to The Dispatch after the meeting. “Our goal is for the rise to be sustained by understanding what will enhance the downtown experience for everyone.”
Orlando Trainer, president of the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors, said that the MSU master plan provides exciting opportunities for the county. After the meeting, he expressed his excitement in a call to The Dispatch.
“The university has a master plan that really encompasses the needs and priorities of the university, so we have to capitalize on that partnership,” Trainer said. “We have to capitalize on some things that may not be directly related to the university, but because we have the university here, we can still benefit from it.”
PLAN
Review the 2022 MSU Master Plan online at https://www.opdca.msstate.edu
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