26th Street Mall
The 26th Street Mall is one of the more successful spaces on campus. It is an important circulation and social space as well as home to orientation week events, a key ceremonial function. Students, faculty, and staff agree that the UNK Fountain Plaza in the center of the 26th Street Mall is the most iconic space on campus. East and west, the mall begins at Ninth Avenue and will be extended west to its connection with University Drive. North and south the mall includes improvements from the fountain plaza north to the Nebraskan and south to the Calvin T. Ryan Library. Roads and parking are removed from the west portion to complete this prominent pedestrian concourse. Parking spaces are to be replaced in the proposed Cope Stadium parking garage. The east end of the mall on Ninth Avenue, is developed as a pedestrian-only entrance to the campus by replacing the curb cut with a vertical “roll curb”, adding UNK columns that narrow the approach, creating a brick-paved entry plaza, and adding furnishings and bicycle racks. Ornamental plantings and drains are removed from the linear green spaces between walks and the existing recessed grading and drainage are amended to slightly raise the center above adjacent walks and create a useable space for students to gather and enjoy. Small trees are removed from the mall’s edges and central green and replaced by regularly spaced canopy trees that line the walks providing a linear formality and civic scale. The fountain basin is to be replaced by a large, signature sculptural centerpiece that will provide an all season visual focal point from the four axial direc- tions. The water feature will be rebuilt to enhance the sculptural element and allow all season access throughout the plaza. Informal seating opportunities will surround the fountain. Once the roads and parking are removed to the west of the plaza, the mall will be extended all the way to a new central entryway campus arrival drop off located on the north side of the Well- ness Center. The arrival point will be enhanced with wide walkways, a large plaza, and rich plantings to signify it as a portal to the campus’ green, pedestrian-oriented core.
Existing - 26th Street Mall
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26th Street Mall Facing West
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Central Entryway Facing East
Proposed - 26th Street Mall
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Chroma Design Inc.
University of Nebraska - Kearney Campus Landscape Master Plan
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