SOURCE: Ken Hall, HMSC Program Manager, 541-867-0234

NEWPORT, Ore. – The Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) in 2007 completed a planning process intended to guide future development on its 49-acre campus in the South Beach area of Newport. The result is the HMSC Master Plan, a 60-page document that provides a framework for evaluating and guiding the anticipated expansion of facilities at the Oregon State University-operated center over the next 15 years.

The planning effort was initiated in 2005 by HMSC Director George Boehlert, who brought in a team from the OSU Facilities Services department in Corvallis to work with Hatfield Center staff, students, and stakeholders in the surrounding community on the development of plan that will steer HMSC space and land use through the year 2022.

The Master Plan articulates a set of guiding principles that provide a framework for considering future development proposals, such as consistency with HMSC’s strategic planning objectives, sustainability goals, innovation and flexibility in design, and impacts on seawater and other shared infrastructure systems.

“When you look at the projected growth of the research and education enterprise at HMSC over the coming decade, and the fact that we have OSU and seven state and federal agency programs sharing space and infrastructure here,” says Boehlert, “it’s clear that we needed this plan.”

There are currently four different proposals for new or expanded buildings at the marine science center, including one for the Oregon Coast Community College’s Aquarium Science program, which is the closest to securing the necessary funding for construction to begin, according to Boehlert. Others include a proposed expansion of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s existing building and a new building to accommodate growth of the OSU Marine Mammal Institute’s research programs and complementary research in marine fisheries genetics.

Although the master plan does not specify a location for any of the proposed new buildings, it does provide site and building design guidelines, development standards, and development review criteria that ensure compliance with the City of Newport’s zoning ordinances and land development code requirements.

The plan also explains the process by which these and other future development projects are to be reviewed by a committee at HMSC, which includes four at-large members representing the Port of Newport, the City of Newport’s Community Development Office, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and the local community. That committee was called together for the first time last month to review the status of currently proposed building projects.

The HMSC Master Plan has received final approval by the OSU Provost and copies of the plan are available for reference at the Newport Public Library, at OSU’s Valley Library in Corvallis, and at the Guin Library on the Hatfield Center campus. A digital copy of the plan can be accessed at http://hdl.handle.net/1957/7511

Questions about the plan should be directed to the HMSC Director’s Office at 541-867-0212.

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