From University Senior Faculty, Staff and Alumni Residential Community Inc.
An informational meeting on the status the University Commons, the residential community long-envisioned by University of Michigan faculty and staff and open to U-M alumni, will be held at 7:30 p.m. June 28 in Rackham Amphitheater.
A 100-apartment mid-rise building is being designed by the architectural firm of Hobbs and Black. The master plan provides for clusters of villas, to be started after the mid-rise building. The developer of this project is Robert Guenther who, with Hobbs and Black, designed and built Nature Cove and Oak Ridge, mid-rise residential homes that are well known in Ann Arbor.
In addition to the apartments, the mid-rise building will have common facilities including dining, music and lecture rooms, along with spaces for an exercise room, a workshop and photographic darkroom.
A guiding concept of University Commons is to bring together a community of senior (50 years of age and older) persons who, though diverse in some regards, have many similar interests.
While there will be an active social and intellectual program, the privacy of the residents will be respected and which, if any, of the activities they engage in will be an individual decision.
President James J. Duderstadt has said of the project: “It is particularly desirable that these valuable members of our community remain in the area. The Univer-sity officers look forward to the many fruitful interactions that the project will promote between this group and the rest of the University community.”
University Commons will be built on a 32-acre site on Dixboro Road, about one-half mile from Geddes Road. The rolling nature of the terrain enables an aesthetic placement of buildings, walking paths, a lake and tennis courts. This same quality will help provide screening and a desirable degree of privacy.
North Campus is a seven-to-nine-minute drive from the site, Main Campus and downtown Ann Arbor about five minutes more. In addition, the site is only a short distance from the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Gallup Park and the Radrick Farms Golf Course.
The open meeting for all persons interested in University Commons will include a short business meeting and an opportunity to look at the site plan, drawings of apartment layouts and other materials. For information, call Alfred Sussman, 662-0292, or George DeMuth, 665-5956.
