Sesquicentennial Campus Planning Framework
The Sesquicentennial Campus Planning Framework Plan is an update of the 1990 Campus Planning Framework document prepared by the Office of Planning and Administrative Services (now the Facilities Services Group - Administration [FSG]) in April 1990. The 1990 plan included historical background, information on vehicular circulation and parking, documentation of existing and proposed green spaces, and detailed information on planning issues within seven defined functional areas on the main campus.

A framework plan should provide guidance to appropriately site and plan projects so they fit well within the campus while providing the flexibility necessary to respond to unanticipated and unpredictable requirements. As noted in the 1990 Plan, the concept of a Framework Plan is that there are certain elements of the campus environment or systems so fundamental they must not be ignored when planning a specific project. These elements include buildings, roads, parking facilities, utilities, natural features, open spaces, other site features, and historic considerations. Plans for new construction must accommodate the realities of the existing environment and existing future plans for that environment. New structures do not have to mimic existing structures but must have visual links to neighboring buildings and must have continuity with the rest of the campus. Architectural diversity is an expected and welcome result of a mix of historic and contemporary buildings on campus. A key purpose of the framework plan is to provide continuity to the diverse elements of the campus environment.

This current update reviews pertinent information from the 1990 plan and incorporates campus changes since the earlier plan. It incorporates current and proposed changes as expressed in planning documents for specific areas of campus (such as the Health Sciences/Hospital Campus) and for various campus systems (such as campus wide bicycle parking study). It also documents pertinent existing development on campus such as roads, open space, and parking and includes information on slopes, soils, and other natural features.

Like the 1990 plan, the update concentrates on the East Campus (the area east of the Iowa River including the Pentacrest) and the West Campus area between the Iowa River and Hawkins Drive intersection with US Highway 6 (the area called "West Campus" often includes the Lower Finkbine Athletic Fields west of the Hawkins/Highway intersection). The update also incorporates the Far West Campus (west of Mormon Trek Boulevard between the Iowa Interstate Railway and Melrose Avenue) and the Oakdale Campus (north of Interstate-80) more extensively than in the 1990 plan and defines them as two new Functional Areas. The concentration, however, remains on the East and West Campuses.