UCLA Plans to Increase Its Facilities by a Third

UCLA, looking to maintain its standing among major research and teaching universities, unveiled an ambitious, long-range development plan Thursday that would increase its total physical plant--including classrooms, residential space, offices and medical facilities--by one third over the next 15 years.

The plan, announced by UCLA Chancellor Charles Young, involves a major foray into university-owned land on the southwest end of Westwood Village. It includes a residential village for 2,700 graduate students and faculty and a much-disputed conference center on what is known as Lot 32, a finger of land that reaches down from the main campus and abuts Wilshire Boulevard, west of Gayley Avenue.

“UCLA has risen quickly to the ranks of the world’s premier research universities,” Young said. The proposed expansion will enable it to “continue that ascent and remain a valuable asset to the community” while acquiring the staff and technology necessary “for us to make a contribution which is needed in the 21st Century.”

Despite assurances from Young that the plans would not adversely affect the area, the announcement immediately raised concerns in the community about traffic congestion and livability in one of Los Angeles’ most crowded and popular areas.

“The amount and the intensity of the plan may be more than the area can handle,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, a UCLA graduate whose district includes Westwood.

Young insisted, however, that the university’s goals can be achieved without increasing traffic. “We’re prepared not only to state that can be done, but we are prepared to live with the restriction” that there be no increase in traffic, Young said.

The blueprint--essentially a land-use plan--also envisions building a new 600-patient hospital, with the existing Medical Center converted into offices and auxiliary health services, including research space.

No dollar figure has been placed on the facilities, as each one must be approved and funded separately over the years. The total, Young said, would be “a lot. It’s more than I’d like to go out and raise immediately.”

The proposed UCLA construction must compete for limited state education funds. The UC system is also pushing an ambitious plan to build three new campuses that could drain away resources. Despite the planned building boom that could add 4.45 million square feet to the current 13.3 million square feet of facilities, Young denied that it is a plan for growth.

“It’s not an expansion plan,” Young said at a news conference on campus. “UCLA is not in an expansion mode.”

Only a minor increase in the student population is anticipated, he said. The student body is expected to grow by about 1,500 from its 34,674 students now. Faculty and staff population is expected to rise by about 4,000 in the next 15 years.

Young said the proposals are a necessity in UCLA’s mission to continue to attract top faculty and students by providing state-of-the art research facilities and an intellectual milieu that fosters excellence. Faculty and students are now squeezed into space that has long been inadequate, he said.

Community leaders, many of whom are among the Westside’s slow-growth activists, are not convinced that such major development would leave Westwood Village and its neighbors untouched. Representatives of two homeowners’ groups called Young’s assurances “ludicrous” and “a bad joke.”

While applauding UCLA’s goal of retaining its standing as a preeminent university, Yaroslavsky said the goal must be accomplished in a “way that does not undermine the quality of life of their neighbors.”

Yaroslavsky said he is not convinced by Young’s contentions that the plan would not detract from the area.

“I think UCLA clearly has to be poised for some skepticism on the part of the city and the community,” he said. “It is impossible that 4 million square feet of building is not going to generate traffic. It’s hard to fathom.”

According to a 1987 city transportation study, Wilshire Boulevard and Veteran Avenue just east of the San Diego Freeway was the busiest intersection in Los Angeles with 126,000 cars passing each day. Ed Rowe, general manager of the city’s Department of Transportation, estimated that the figure has grown between 5% and 10% since then, with no end in sight.

In its promise not to add to this glut of cars, Young said the university will gear up its already successful programs of car- and van-pooling. In addition, the residential village, which was suggested to the school by community groups, will reduce traffic because people who now commute to the campus will be able to walk.

Young also noted that the long-range plan does not provide any new parking spaces because “construction of parking places will generate more trips.” However, 3,000 already-approved parking spaces will be constructed; and where parking lots are used for construction sites, those spaces will be replaced elsewhere.

While acknowledging the university’s claim of no added traffic was a “wild card” that would be met with skepticism, Rowe said if such a feat is accomplished anywhere in town, it will be at UCLA. “They have a model program over there and an obvious commitment on the part of UCLA administration,” he said.

Two community leaders, however, took a different view.

“It’s a massive amount of development, no matter how you look at it, in an area that is already massively impacted,” said Sandy Brown, vice president of Westwood-Holmby Property Owners Assn. “To say that amount of development isn’t going to be noticeable in terms of impact is ludicrous.”

Laura Lake, president of Friends of Westwood, rejected Young’s contention that the long-range plan could be accomplished without adversely affecting the community. “This idea of not producing traffic is a bad joke,” she said.

Homeowner groups are particularly concerned about the proposed Conference Center, which would include up to 300 rooms for overnight guests attending programs at the university. “I call it a hotel,” Brown said. “UCLA doesn’t need to be in the hotel business, to derive money from someone sleeping overnight in a facility they provide.”

Young said the proposed Conference Center would not generate as much traffic as a commercial hotel and would not cause the same impact to the community.

The word “hotel” is particularly sensitive in Westwood. The most contentious issue in a hard-fought community plan that went into effect in January, 1989, was whether the Village should have a new hotel, and if so, how big. One hotel was approved for the Village proper, but UCLA’s facility is just outside the perimeter and it is not bound by the plan in any event.

A public hearing on the draft long-range development plan and its environmental impact report is scheduled for April 4 at 7 p.m. at the Tennis Center on campus.

The long-range development plan contains a commitment to preserve the “campus in a garden” environment by protecting existing areas of open space and creating plazas, courts, gardens and walkways in future developments on the 419-acre campus.

Among the new academic facilities proposed are an expansion of the law library, which is already partially funded, an expansion of the Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and new research space for the humanities and life sciences programs.

A significant expansion of the existing studio, rehearsal and performance facilities is proposed for the fine arts department, while obsolete engineering facilities are slated for replacement. A 200,000-square-foot research library is also on the university’s wish list, as is state-of-the art research labs for molecular biology and the physical sciences. An expanded child-care center is also on the drawing boards.

Young said there are substantial financial obstacles that must be overcome before the UCLA Medical Center can build a new facility for its patients. He predicted that it will be the end of the decade before the facility is built. No specific site is designated for the hospital, but Young said it will be near the existing Medical Center.

The new facility would replace outdated hospital rooms that were built before major technological advancements. Remodeling them would ultimately be more costly than starting anew, he said.

UCLA EXPANSION PLAN

Existing structures and expansion proposal for UCLA campus: 1.) Northwest Zone: Proposal would add 5,000 square feet of new development to 2,339,000 square feet of existing development. Currently on property: Undergraduate housing, child care facilities; a 1,200-bed residential complex and an international student center are under construction. Proposal would add: Expansion of child care facility. 2.) Central Zone: Proposal would add 150,000 square feet of new development to 925,000 square feet of existing development. Currently on property: Recreation, athletics and student services. Proposal would add: Additional recreation, athletic and student-serving facilities. 3.) Core Campus: Proposal would add 1,050,000 square feet of new development to 6,086,000 square feet of existing development. Currently on property: Primary academic, research and administrative area of campus. Also galleries, museums, theaters and auditoriums. Proposal would add: Additional classroom, lab and office space. 4.) Campus Services: Proposal would add 205,000 square feet of new development to 323,000 square feet of existing development. Currently on property: Mail and messenger service, fleet ser- vice, campus police and community safety. Proposal would add: Chiller plant. 5.) Health Sciences: Proposal would add 750,000 square feet of new development to 3,300,000 square feet of existing development. Currently on property: Medical Center and Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Public Health. Proposal would add: Some reorganization, modification and expansion of facilities. New 600-bed hospital would replace existing hospital. 6.) Botanical Gardens: No changes planned. 7.) The Bridge: Proposal would add 100,000 square feet of new development to 336,000 square feet of existing development. Currently on property: Apartments, Extension Building, Ueberroth Building. Proposal would add: health, sciences facilities. 8.) Southwest Zone: Proposal would add 2,200,000 square feet of new development to 305,000 square feet of existing development. Currently on property: Warren Hall, Rehabilitation Center, various support and administration buildings. Proposal would add: Housing village, new support facilities, academic and administrative facilities.