University of Virginia Library

New Plan Proposes
Innovative Birdwood

By BARBARA HAND

The proposed Birdwood Tract
residential college should be "as
startlingly innovative as the original
concept of the University," according to
a report issued yesterday by a Housing
Committee subcommittee yesterday.

"The planning and executive of the
development of residential colleges
affords us an opportunity to develop a
model alternate to the Grounds as
developed by Mr. Jefferson's report."

Bold And Imaginative

Assistant Dean of the College and
English Assoc. Prof. Charles A. Vandersee
said that the nine-page report is "simply a
nice statement saying we ought to do
something bold and imaginative with
Birdwood." The Birdwood Tract is the
proposed site of the University's
residential colleges.

The report said, "We (The Housing
Committee) have, at this moment in time,
an obligation to be as startlingly
innovative as the original concept of the
University was in the early 1800's." It
continued, "We should not consider the
next decade only, but the 250th
celebration."

Transit System

The subcommittee, whose chairman is
Medical School Dean, James L. Camp,
offered guidelines to be followed in
planning a residential college.

The report said it would be mandatory
to have a rapid transit system running at
frequent intervals between the residential
colleges and the central grounds.

The report said student rooms should
be of various sizes and shapes to "avoid a
sense of repetition and uniformity."

Rooms should be wired for cooking,
and should include carpeting,
sound-proofing and air-conditioning, the
report added.

The subcommittee proposed to
intersperse among living units rooms that
will be classrooms during the day and
study, game and listening rooms at night.

The idea that classrooms and dining
rooms can only be used for their primary
purpose must be abandoned, the report
said.

Some faculty housing including single,
couple, and family units - should be
interspersed with student quarters, the
report said.

Many ideas concerning recreational
facilities were proposed.

Golf Course

An 18-hole golf course, hiking trails,
picnic areas and all-weather tennis courts,
were recommended, as were boating, an
outdoor swimming pool and numerous
indoor and outdoor playing fields.

"The living, eating, learning, and
recreational facilities should be so
interrelated as to give a community
feeling," the report said.