4 minute read
Alumni Commons Design Created by Alumnus
By Sally Scherer
Mark Arnold is familiar with the University of Kentucky campus. Perhaps more familiar than most.
Not only was Arnold a student here — twice — in the 1980s, but as a local landscape architect with Bell Engineering he has spent many hours studying the environmental factors of the campus.
“I loved college,” he said. “I tried to be there for as many years as I could.”
From the walkways near the president’s home at Maxwell Place to the outdoor spaces between Woodland Glen residence halls and the area adjacent to the newly renovated Cooper House and the recently opened James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirts, Arnold knows the converging sight lines, the patterns and lots of the details.
“I was in art school, but I wasn’t a very good artist. I loved tactical things and I loved artists who worked in landscapes, like Christo,” Arnold said about the artist who was known for large-scale site-specific environmental installations.
When the opportunity to work on the Alumni Commons project came his way, Arnold ’81 FA, ’84 AFE knew that he was looking at more than a simple conversion of a roadway into a pedestrian walk. The project needed to serve as a pedestrian “Main Street” connecting numerous established pedestrian paths, convergence zones and sight lines, he said.
His design is based on historic archetypal spaces: the country lane, the central allée and the Italian piazza. Each inspired a central corridor with intersecting pathways creating a gathering place which incorporates the diverse architecture of the buildings that line it whether they be mid-century modern or postmodern.
The design includes gathering spaces, outdoor learning spaces, lawn and landscape areas and feature elements including foundations and blue spheres.
Arnold and his team chose specific stone types throughout Alumni Commons as a nod to the Mining and Minerals Resources Building that is on the southeast side of Alumni Commons. The dedication wall is made of river marble. Hand selected stone from Rowan County is featured in the stair seating to showcase Kentucky.
The transformation of the space took several years. Portions of the street were first closed in 2014 for construction of a science building (now Don and Cathy Jacobs Science Building). By 2016, UK was proposing permanent closure of the portion between Columbia Avenue and Huguelet Drive. In 2020, infrastructure improvements were taking place and the Chemistry-Physics Building along Rose Street was being modernized.
The design was well underway when the UK Alumni Association pledged $3 million to the $9 million project in 2022 and named the area Alumni Commons.
“It was a blessing,” said Arnold. “The UK Alumni Association brought usability to the design. They requested plugs for electrical outlets so vendors using the space would be able to plug in. They suggested branding it as Alumni Commons and giving it some heart. The wall wasn’t there when we started. The UK Alumni Association suggested the wall with the signage.”
Arnold describes what he created as “a nice tabletop for a meal where he can let the chefs do the rest.” That could include adding sculptures, more and different types of seating or other features.
Arnold’s work has taken him throughout the state with design projects at the campus of Western Kentucky University, a master plan for the recovery of Mayfield, Kentucky, following tornado devastation in 2021, and to Eastern Kentucky to help communities in Perry, Letcher and Jenkins counties as they recover from flooding of 2022.
“I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do,” Arnold said. “I love this career. I’m happy every day I work.” ■
