| It
is a familiar story across the country in university towns that
nurture the nation’s land-grant universities. What began
as small campuses on large farms are now large campuses with little,
and often no, agriculture in sight. Unanticipated growth of these
universities and their surrounding communities has largely separated
the campus from the farm, the bench from the field, and the basic
from the applied research inherent among agricultural life sciences.
Southeast
of the MU campus sits South Farm, a 1,450-acre living field laboratory
close enough for faculty members and students to use for both
teaching and research, but also attractive enough for development
to stimulate the city’s growth. Herein lies the dilemma
— Is South Farm simply real estate to sell and subdivide?
Or is its research and teaching legacy something to be preserved
with an eye to future outreach and economic development for the
University, the city and the state?
The past
year has seen considerable effort to keep
CAFNR in Columbia. The perimeter fencing of Sanborn Field
along College Avenue was respectfully renovated to appropriately
mark the historical landmark it is. The juxtaposition of Sanborn
Field with the new Life Sciences Center symbolizes a complete
circle of MU life sciences research and application.
This last
year has also been one filled with considerable planning for the
future of South Farm. Aided by the experience of MU campus master
planners at Sasaki
Associates, Inc., we have assembled several alternative land-use
patterns for the future of the farm (visit our Research
page to find links to maps showing existing land use and proposed
land use). With a goal of continuing a plan of no net loss of
research capacity within the Columbia area, we are considering
a schedule for facility renovation and replacement that will cause
minimal disturbance to ongoing programs.
An important
planning consideration for the future of South Farm is surrounding
development and infrastructure. Across U.S. Highway 63 to the
west of South Farm is the Phillips tract and a new city park,
both in the planning stages of development. These improvements
require highway access, and the current plan is for construction
of a new interchange on the north side of Gans Creek that would
have an impact on the farm.
Though originally
we were encouraging the interchange at an alternative location,
our plans for South Farm now incorporate the developer’s
location for the interchange to help create a prominent new public
entrance for the Farm (see artist's rendering of proposed South
Farm headquarters below).
Click for expanded view. (Illustration
courtesy Sasaki Associates, Inc.)
Currently,
we are still negotiating to ensure that the interchange does not
feed a major arterial roadway eastward across the Farm, essentially
bisecting it. We understand the need for improved roadways but
think the dollars it would take to build a major east/west road
through the Farm could be better used to improve the existing
Grindstone/AC interchange and complete other planned loops to
access Interstate 70. Other options are available for the roads;
a farm as proximate – and potentially as valuable –
as South Farm cannot be replaced.
Improving
the value of South Farm to faculty members and students is important,
but so is attracting new users and enhancing the missions of outreach
and economic development. Adding the value necessary to ensure
South Farm’s beauty and attract and inform the public while
linking the innovative research of the University to commercialization
will require partnerships.
We have been
working on two specific kinds of partnerships that seem to offer
the best fit with our vision of South Farm. We are considering
entering into a long-term agreement with the Jefferson
Institute to establish the "Jefferson Farms" on
South Farm. In exchange for a land lease, the Institute would
construct and operate a public demonstration and education facility
specifically designed for outreach in cooperation with CAFNR programs.
And, to proactively
encourage economic development, we are considering partnering
with Regional
Economic Development, Inc. (REDI) to construct and lease
space for a research park in conjunction with new headquarters
and laboratories for the Farm.
Our intent
would be to complement the planned "incubator" proposed
on campus, with the South Farm park intended for established businesses.
And, rather than lose the Farm as a research, teaching and outreach
site (as was done at the Missouri Research Park near Weldon Spring),
our intention is to create an "entrepreneurial village,"
with facilities constructed in a tight, land-conserving configuration,
and to encourage a creative community comprising faculty members,
students and innovative private-sector businesses. We are trying
to learn from a variety of efforts to create such an atmosphere
at our peer institutions across the country (see links in sidebar).
The ultimate
reality for South Farm will be determined in the coming months
and years. We have been relying on a group of faculty and staff
members dubbed South Farm’s "friends" as our primary
advisers to date. This will expand to include our neighbors and
potential partners. Our vision for South Farm is a thriving agricultural
landscape that demonstrates the best of CAFNR research, teaching,
outreach and economic development – the four missions of
the University. When the University, the city and the state unite
in that vision, we’ll know we’ve made it.
Regards,
John
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