Wichita State University - Parnassus Yearbook (Wichita, KS)

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fr The -campus today consists of ap proximately 320 acres of land and over 50 buildings located in an area bounded by 21st, Oliver, 17th, and Hillside in the northeast quadrant of the city. This section of Wichita is experiencing extensive residential and industrial development, but the campus itself is surrounded by recreational areas. shop- ping areas and quasi-public open spaces. The immediate environs of the Univer- sity are attractive recreational areas of a quality which is atypical of many large urban universities. The University sup- ports neighborhood goals concerning the preservation and development of residen- tial qualities. Mutual problems including housing, parking, spot-strip commercial development, inadequate recreational facilities and traffic congestion through and around the neighborhoods and the University. For the approaching motor- ist, the view of the campus from Hillside is superior to views from other direc- tions. The landscaped foreground and view of buildings is the most aesthetic from the southwest corner of the campus, which has been a major entry point. .- The building layout of the University was initially thought of as an oval campus west of Yale Avenue. During the 1950's and 1960's, however, the area east of Yale was developed without regard for the original concept which

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XNICHITIX STATE UNIVERSITY offer the College to the City of Wichita. Mergers were considered with Friends University. Washburn College of Topeka, and a Dodge City college. However, the City voted to accept the College in 1926, and it became the Municipal Uni- versity of Wichita. Shortly after this change in ownership, a firm of landscape architects from Denver was contracted to prepare a master plan for the campus. The Crary-Culley- Carhart Plan was presented in the fall of 1928, and five buildings were construct- ed between 1929 and 1949 based on this plan. The plan capitalized on the visual prominence of the University's location on the eastern shelf of the Arkansas River Valley. Enrollment increases after the 1964 entry into the state system led to the construction of additional buildings and facilities. As the current planning process demonstrates, there are still facility and space deficiencies on the campus, despite significant improve- ments made by the state.

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Nl-' f, 5 Ni Q included such buildings as Morrison Hall, Jardine and McKinley. ln combination, the building masses formed a 'Y' oriented on the east-west axis. Except for a few instances, the buildings comprising the 'Y' appear to have been designed for individual settings. A major problem resulting from the development of the east-west campuses is a lack of unity. Recent action taken to close Yale and plans for development have led to the establishment of psychological, visual and physical continuity. The plan- ned pedestrianfvehicular corridor, the plazas and quadrangles, and the vistas thus provided, are some of the means by which the entire campus can be in- tegrated. may J 4. . 'T1 fi' 'fi' s 'X-Haze-he-.. 4 wp, ,N vtbv Fihiiv K -4 'ef gt? ., W 'time 'Eli ' l-4' can 3' 'vi W- ffm --- .zzfw . Qfkggr-1 'r f 5