It’s easy to spot Michael Rickenbaker at a New Mexico State University volleyball game. He is so fervent about the sport that he has lost his voice on more than one occasion. Rickenbaker, NMSU’s architect and director of facilities planning and construction, is just as passionate about the university’s master plan, the blueprint of the university’s future physical development and land use. The plan addresses the infrastructure of the university, the addition or remodeling of buildings, and the rethinking of transportation facilities and routes.

For months, Rickenbaker and other top university officials have worked with Studio D Architects in Las Cruces and their partner firm, Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas and Co., who have served as consultants for the project.

The heart

Creating a heart or center of the university is a core concept of the master plan. The heart would include a visitors’ center, student services and other buildings in the area around Corbett Center and Zuhl Library. It would be easily accessible by Frenger Mall, off Stewart Street, from the southern part of campus, and by Jordan Street, off University Avenue, from the northern end. Discussions have been held to build a three- or four-level parking structure in this area, allowing for additional parking while converting the current lots in the area back to a campus green that once inhabited McFie Circle in the days when Milton Hall was the student union.

The soul

To complement the university’s heart, the master plan calls for giving University Avenue a soul. To some, this major roadway is now seen as a nondescript boundary that divides the university and the city. To others, it’s simply a method of getting from the eastern part of Las Cruces to the west or vice versa. The master plan calls for a “town and gown” approach, dotting the city’s side of the avenue with coffee shops, cafes, bookstores, boutiques and other attractions. Museums, performance centers, and opportunities for major classroom buildings would help enhance the university’s side of the thoroughfare. Just as importantly, all campus buildings would face University Avenue, sending a subliminal message of friendliness and openness as opposed to the current setup in which the backsides of several buildings face the roadway, giving the impression of shunning the non-university community. Furthermore, traffic would be “calmed” by lowering the speed limit and reducing traffic lanes so pedestrians can cross the street more easily and safely.

“The idea is that a lot of our development over the next 10 to 20 years is focused on University Avenue,” Rickenbaker says.

Interest from the interstates

Making New Mexico State University more noticeable and attractive from Interstates 10 and 25 also is part of the master plan. Improvements along I-25 can be seen at Arrowhead Research Park and its developments, but further up the highway, “we would envision having baseball, softball, soccer, and track all co-relocated at an area that’s very visible from I-25,” Rickenbaker says. As for Interstate 10, the plan is to relocate the housing more inward to campus along an intramural sports area and a major green space park, undeveloped land that is maintained for recreational enjoyment. The focus is on sustainability and open space, creating more areas like the Horseshoe that are open throughout the campus.

Transforming internal transportation

Improved transit systems also are part of the master plan.

“We want to continue or enhance these systems to move our students more readily and rapidly from the perimeter areas,” Rickenbaker says. The transit system already is growing in usage, he says, as more people discover that it’s easier to park in the huge, free lots east of the Pan American Center and Aggie Memorial Stadium and take the transit to the core of campus rather than circle the parking lots, looking for scant available spaces.

Additional parking would be added to the Skeen Hall area creating convenience for agriculture and engineering students whose classrooms are on the west side of campus. Also in this area, the university is continuing its dialogue with city officials about the possibility of a proposed city conference/convention center and a legacy farm, showcasing the university’s agricultural heritage.

Road diets, especially for Espina and Stewart streets, also are a major part of the master plan. A road diet is a roadway with up to six or eight lanes of vehicular traffic that is changed to a single lane of traffic going in one direction, a bike lane, a walking area for pedestrians, and a median except where turn lanes are needed.

“Road diets would move traffic further away from buildings that are close to the street,” Rickenbaker says. “The traffic would move better since the ambiguities at eight-way stops would be lost.”

The 1990 master plan recommended the closing of Espina, but Rickenbaker and the master plan consultants, with support from the Metropolitan Planning Organization, suggest a road diet instead.

“A road diet would help pedestrians because they will need to get across only one lane at a time,” Rickenbaker says. “They can then rest in the median until it’s time to continue crossing.”