Over the summer, the university began construction of a gateway in front of the Alumni Memorial Union as part of an effort to make students feel connected to the campus.
For eight weeks, crews built two masonry piers off Wisconsin Avenue at 15th Street, near the AMU. The metal arch, which will be installed tomorrow, weather permitting, "comes out of the Campus Identity and Beautification committee," said Tom Ganey, director of facilities planning, design and construction.
The gateway "is trying to create an identity for the side of campus, off of the public avenue," Ganey said. "It's part of the overall identity. It's (part of) a series of elements to define the gateways, edges and borders of the campus."
The university decided to add a gateway, Ganey said, because once students cross Wisconsin Avenue, near the engineering building, they can feel a sense of place — like they are entering campus again.
The money for the gateways, along with other projects by the committee, did not come from the university.
"Generally, it's a donor-funded project," said Toby Peters, associate vice president of the Office of Administration.
Because the gateways are funded by donations, they will not be appearing on a regular basis, Peters said, but there are still plans to add a few more around campus.
"It is clearly our intention to add the portals (and gateways) as soon as possible," Peters said.
As with the other portals and gateways, the new gateway near AMU will "take on attributes of nearby buildings," he said.
The gateways are just one facet of the overall campus identification and beautification, which has been an ongoing project for many years.
Upperclassmen can remember what campus looked like when they first arrived.
"I thought it was pretty urban," said College of Communication junior Laura Whitaker. "As soon as I saw Marquette's campus, I loved it, but I just felt that there weren't any real boundaries between the campus and the city surrounding it," she said. "Over the past three years, Marquette has really made a big effort to sort of put up boundaries in a way, and beautify the campus."
"The arch is gorgeous," Whitaker said, after looking at the rendering of the AMU gateway. "I am so excited that they are putting up an arch because, for me, that's like the final touch that will transform Marquette into this unified, central place for everyone to come, meet and get to know one another."
"It just signifies that you're coming into a place of learning and understanding, where people can all come in no matter what their background or no matter where their from," she said.
Preparations are also being made for the installation of the Père Marquette sculpture in front of Joan of Arc Chapel. It is also a project of the Campus Identity and Beautification committee. The dedication ceremony is Sept. 23.
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 15, 2005.,”James A. Molnar”
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