This page is dedicated to facts about the West Campus Residential Initiative parking lot. Some may know this land as "redbud woods." In fact, this piece of land is not an historic woods, but the lawn of the historic Treman estate, which has become overgrown with invasive species. Please find below frequently asked questions about this land and pictures of historic interest, as well as renderings of what the area will become.

Redbud Woods: Right fight, Wrong spot

Nothing that takes hundreds of years to replace, if it can be replaced at all, should fall to the two-stroke buzz of a chainsaw in seconds without careful consideration. From the Redwoods of the West to the last remaining old growth acres in the East, dedicated activist have forced us to pause and rethink the implications of our quick decisions. What has been saved in many places are living treasures worth far more than the deck lumber or the scenic roadway they were once destined to be. But this is not one of those places...

Historical Photographs: Aerial picture from the 1930s showing the lawn of the Treman estate; same picture with the outline of the replacement parking lot; 1903 picture from the lawn, also with outline of replacement lot.
Now: View from University Ave. and University Ave.
Proposed: Extensive landscaping will enhance the location and shield the parking lot from view. Same picture as above, with proposed landscaping; entrance from University Ave.
Site Plan

Where will the parking lot be located?
The parking lot will be located on the southwest corner of University and Stewart Avenues.

What is the history of this property?
The property originally belonged to the Treman Estate.  According to the book “As I Remember” by Allan H. Treman, two Treman families and the Van Cleefs decided to move to East Hill somewhere around 1900.   They bought nine acres of land formerly belonging to the Cornell family, bounded on the east by Stewart Avenue, north and west by University Avenue, and south by Llenroc, the home of Ezra Cornell.   Each house was designed to meet the individual needs of the families, but the landscaping was developed as a complementary unit.   From this historical picture taken in the early 1900s (above), you can see the original landscaping of the estate.

This location was never a forest.   Instead, over time, it has been allowed to become overgrown by invasive species.

Why do we need another parking lot on West Campus?
The proposed lot will help mitigate the parking spaces that were lost during the construction of the Alice Cook House and the Carl Becker House.  When the West Campus Residential Initiative is complete in 2010, there will be a community center and five residential houses, each with 350 students, resident graduate and professional student mentors, and a dining room.

Plans for West Campus submitted to the City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board in 2001 called for elimination of 286 parking spaces and construction of a 195-space lot to be screened with extensive landscaping along the adjacent areas on the Cornell campus and along University Avenue. The lot was subsequently scaled back to 176 spaces.

What does the Cornell Plantations have to say about ecological properties of this land?
www.plantations.cornell.edu/collections/natareas/redbud_woods.cfm

“Redbud woods is an excellent place to consider the impacts of human activity, horticulture, and the effects of invasive plants, on native vegetation. Much of this woodland was formerly landscaped yard. Most of the herbs, shrubs, and small trees that cover the site today are weedy species of European or Asian origin. For example, tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima), European buckthorns (Rhamnus cathartica), honeysuckles (Lonicera), privets (Ligistrum), Norway Maple (Acer platanoides), and multiflora rose (Rosa Multiflora) are abundant.

Redbud (Cercis canadensis) is a native of the eastern U.S., but its original range extends north only to central Pennsylvania.”

When did plans for the West Campus Residential Initiative start?
The West Campus Program Planning Group began its work in October 1998.

Who participated in the planning of the West Campus Residential Initiative?
Eighteen neighborhood outreach meetings were held with community stakeholders between April 2001 and December 2002. Furthermore, the Residential Initiative Executive Group has met bimonthly since February 2002 to address campus and community concerns. In his first two years alone, President Lehman has met six times with senior administrators solely to discuss this proposal, in addition to the many regular meetings in which the matter has arisen as a matter of course.  President Lehman has also met with various student groups on numerous occasions to discuss their concerns, including four separate meetings devoted entirely to this subject.

What is the result of all the planning?
Every aspect of the proposal has been fully vetted, and a number of changes were made to accommodate the views of various constituencies. The lot was shifted to preserve the original carriage path that exists on the property, its elevation was raised to provide a more substantial buffer for residences on University Avenue, and the overall footprint was made more compact, which will result in less tree clearing, reduced run-off, and ultimately a smaller paved surface. On three occasions, courts have upheld the university’s position. Most recently, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Albany unanimously ordered the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission ("ILPC") to grant the approval sought by Cornell.

Contact:
Simeon Moss, Director
Press Relations Office
234 Day Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-6074