The first in a series of opportunities for the public to offer ideas regarding the expansion of Western Michigan University's Business Technology and Research Park at the Colony Farm Orchard will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17 at Oshtemo Township Hall, 7275 W. Main St.
The meeting has been scheduled by the architectural engineering and landscape architecture firms chosen to develop a design plan for the expanded business park -- Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber and O’Boyle, Cowell, Blalock, & Associates.
Members of the community will have a chance to learn more about Phase 2 of the BTR Park development and share their ideas for making the addition as successful as the first phase, say principals with the firms.
WMU also has named a nine-member project advisory committee to work with the design team as it develops plans to turn the 44-acre site adjacent to the original park into a home for private sector partners. The committee is made up of community members as well as WMU faculty, staff and student representatives.
There will be three public forums, including the Dec. 17 session.
WMU's BTR Park opened in 2000 and is now full, with more than 40 private-sector firms that focus on the life sciences, advanced engineering and information technology. The Colony Farm Orchard property is located within the boundaries of Oshtemo Township and will be developed as a partnership between the township and the university.
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: Western Michigan University
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