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As part of overall campus aesthetic improvements, changes are planned for the Campus Center Drive entrance to the Kent Campus from State Route 261.

“The university plans to enhance the gateway in this area to alert travelers who travel from the south that they have found their entry into Kent State,” says Brian Pickering, project manager – landscape architect in the Office of the University Architect at Kent State. “We want to make it more of an arrival point to campus — one that is welcoming and more distinctive — so that you know that you have arrived at 5X����.”

Michael Bruder, director of design and construction with Kent State’s Office of the University Architect, agrees that the enhancements are necessary because the location is one of the main arrival points to the campus.

“This is an important place to announce arrival to the campus,” Bruder says. “We will change the look of the landscape to a more maintained and manicured area, as opposed to the current wooded area, to make it immediately clear to campus visitors that they have arrived at the Kent Campus.”

Planned improvements include selective pruning and removal of trees for long-term health of more trees, planting of grass and landscape beds, additional visitor parking and visitor signs and a digital event sign to announce important university events.

Pickering says that enhancing the views of campus is important for branding, recruitment and safety as people can see further back from the road to the campus buildings.

Safety and enhancing the gateway into campus was addressed in March when trees were cleared at Campus Center Drive and State Route 261. The line of sight for cars traveling through that busy intersection was improved. Additional pruning and removal will continue as part of the first phase of work at the campus entrance. New parking and signage work will continue into the fall semester.

For more information about the Office of the University Architect, visit www.kent.edu/universityarchitect.