(Nov. 13, 2008) 17th Place at the Anschutz Medical Campus soon will be transformed from an asphalt street to a pedestrian plaza between the Education Quad and the Research Quad.

Facilities Projects and Institutional Planning have worked with a number of consultants, including the landscape architecture firm of studioINSITE, to survey, plan and design improvements that will replace underground utilities, removal asphalt roadway, and replace it with walkways, benches, pedestrian lighting, and irrigated lawn.

These improvements will form the backdrop for sculptural elements situated in six locations along the 1,200 foot long east/ west link between Education 1 and Research 1.  The artwork, by Thomas H. Sayre, includes two major pieces; one at each end of the pedestrian link.  In between these “bookends” he has created a series of gathering places or outdoor rooms, designed to inspire reflection and/ or interaction.  The materials incorporated into the sculptures and the resulting forms are inspired by the planned layout of the Anschutz Medical Campus and the dichotomies found in the health sciences. The street in front of Building 500 will remain in place to allow vehicle access. 

Construction of the infrastructure improvements will be completed by December and the artwork will be installed in the spring of 2009.  In order to accommodate the western-most sculpture, the three prominent doors, created by Christopher Weed, and winner of the 2005, 5280 Magazine – 2005 Editor’s Choice for Public Art, will be relocated to a prominent location in the south portion of the Research Quad.

Above: An artist's rendering illustrates the type of sculpture planned for one section of the pedestrian walkway at Anschutz Medical Campus.