“We were looking to grow our student body, and we needed more places to do that,” Harrison says. “In the spring of 2004, we were finishing up a year-long study at the Tempe campus on how we would roll out programs going forward and expanding [our] footprint...so we identified downtown Phoenix as one of the places where we could grow the student body.”

The city of Phoenix also launched a strategic plan, and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon indicated to ASU that the city would support the campus using a bond package to purchase land and renovate facilities. A total of $223 million in bonds was used to secure the downtown campus’ initial facilities.

Those facilities include classrooms for University College (basic undergraduate education), College of Nursing and Health Innovation (nursing and research) and the College of Public Programs (public administration and social work), which are all housed in buildings that were renovated. The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication broke ground in February and is expected to be open for classes in fall 2008 for nearly 2,000 students. The new facility will also be home to Eight/KAET, Phoenix’s public television station, which has broadcasted from ASU’s Tempe campus since 1961.

Brian Kearney, president of Downtown Phoenix Partnership, says businesses haven’t seen much of an impact from the nearby campuses yet.

“So far the impact has been minimal, but that’s to be expected given the newness of the campuses,” he says. “We’re not bothered by that—we’re confident and optimistic that as the campus grows, impact on surrounding businesses will be significant, and new businesses will be coming in, particularly those geared to serve the students’ needs.”

Kearney says it will take time for the students to learn their surroundings and take advantage of what’s available.

“Many businesses are still trying to figure out how best to communicate with the [college] population,” he explains. “We are working with them to develop mechanisms that will familiarize students with what’s available in Copper Square. We’re giving them tours and making presentations on the area.”

Kearney says Copper Square will see more young, hip service-oriented businesses open as more students move into downtown. There are even plans for the Jackson Entertainment District, which will offer nightlife for students. A development group has submitted a proposal to the city, Kearney says, and will be going through the negotiations process in the next few months.

The greatest challenge in developing the downtown campus was the speed at which everything had to be done. “The bond passed March 14 and we had to open the campus August 21, so that’s been the biggest challenge so far,” Harrison says. “Now we’re working to open the journalism school for fall 2008 and build our school housing by fall 2008 as well, so it’s a challenge to get them ready on time.”

Kearney agrees. “There’s a real desire to develop as quickly as possible,” he says. “ASU has demands for space with a growing number of students—same thing with UA in Tucson. There’s a tremendous demand of students trying to get into the College of Medicine and a real shortage of doctors in Arizona, so trying to get this done as fast as the market calls for has been difficult.”

While the light rail project fueled the interest in both schools to have a downtown Phoenix campus, Kearney says it was a natural fit for UA’s College of Medicine. Students will have a plethora of opportunities with the nearby biomedical campus and a ring of hospitals within their grasp. The medical school will also have its own affiliated hospital, which was recently designated to be a Banner Health facility.

The partnership between UA and Banner Health will bring a downtown hospital, a transition of Banner Good Samaritan’s Graduate Medical Education program into UA College of Medicine’s GME program and a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer hospital. The downtown Phoenix hospital will have a medical staff of full-time UA faculty and is projected to have 200 beds. Sites for both hospitals have not yet been chosen.

“Everyone has been so supportive of our [downtown location]—the city, business community and even neighborhoods who were somewhat skeptical of students being dumped in their midst—everyone has been positive about our being downtown and has worked with us to make it a success,” Harrison says.

“[ASU and UA] will create a sense of energy and vibrancy,” Kearney predicts. “People will enjoy seeing students walk the streets, and we already hear that from people right now.” The added eyes and feet on the street will “help create its own sense of security. [Phoenix] won’t become a college town, but it will have a new element we’ve not had, so it’s very exciting.”

“Unlike other types of things you could bring downtown, universities don’t go away,” Harrison says. “One hundred years from now, people will be talking about ASU’s downtown Phoenix campus.”

www.asu.edu/downtownphoenix
www.medicine.arizona.edu