Tired of the barren lot between the picturesque Tempe Beach Park and Hayden's Ferry Lakeside, the city council has approved a new development designed by professors and students in the ASU School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
The city and ASU have collaborated on the project for four years, planning and designing indoor and outdoor community spaces for public use and Tempe Town Lake events. The project should take another two years to complete, said ASU professor Catherine Spellman.
Tempe Sister Cities, the organization that initiated the idea, wanted a public gathering space near the lake, said Nancy Ryan, senior planner for the Rio Salado Project, the city division overseeing development around the area.
"There will be a grand staircase, a plaza with several segmented patios that can be used for multiple groups," Ryan said. The patios, which could accommodate 100 to 900 people, would be like outdoor rooms, similar to beer gardens, she added.
The staircase will allow people to walk directly from Mill Avenue to the lake.
"In addition to that, there is also the potential to add a community room with a catering kitchen," she said.
Ryan said the project is informally referred to as the "plaza between the bridges." Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said the project needs a catchier name at the council's issue review session last week.
"We also think [the area] will be so attractive there will be more requests for weddings," Ryan said.
Spellman, a professor in the architecture school and one of three ASU professors overseeing the design of the project, said ASU architecture developed ideas for the location and use of the land.
Colin Billings, one of 20 ASU students to work on the project since its inception, completed his Masters of Architecture last spring, but has continued to work on its development as an ASU employee.
"We're beginning the process of developing and finalizing the architecture and making it into a building," he said. "We've just finished two models, we're addressing the form of the building, how it's situated, how it hooks to Mill."
The project will cost an estimated $4 million, Spellman said. Tempe Sister Cities and Motorola have already contributed nearly $200,000.
The rest of the money will be raised by the Rio Salado Foundation, she added. The foundation raises money for various projects by soliciting public and private grants.
Tempe will hire an associate architect to oversee the insurance, construction documents and construction administration. Spellman said the university can't take on the liability that is involved in overseeing a building project such as this.
"We will maintain control of all of the design issues," Spellman added.
She added students have been a major asset to the project, both in the design and the development. Spellman said students met with engineers, and examined water issues since the development area is in a flood zone.
"We've never had a meeting without them," Spellman said.
Reach the reporter at emilia.arnold@asu.edu.
