Main Quadrangle to get formal facelift

Changes to the University’s Main Quadrangle are underway to make the campus friendlier for pedestrians. The first of these changes begins Monday, Oct. 11, when no-parking signs will be posted on the Main Quadrangle.

Except for service and delivery trucks, vehicles no longer will be allowed to park on the quadrangle, and illegally parked cars will be ticketed and towed.

To accommodate the demand for visitor parking, approximately 100 additional visitor spaces will be available next fall in the Lexington lot south of the Oriental Institute and in the new parking structure.

Other pedestrian-friendly efforts are part of the Campus Master Plan to refurbish University grounds with additional landscaping, new pathways and environmental lighting.

According to Provost Geoffrey Stone, the University is in the process of hiring a landscape architect who also will design a new, formal entrance to the Main Quadrangle.

In anticipation of this new entrance, the tennis courts at 58th Street and University Avenue were removed and resodded earlier this month. Tennis players may use the six recently resurfaced courts adjacent to Stagg Field.

The tennis courts south of the Regenstein Library will be resurfaced later this quarter.

“The University has never had a formal entrance to the Main Quadrangle,” said Stone.

“The new entrance design will not only beautify it but highlight its importance as the heart of our campus.”