January 22, 2024
Source/Andropogon Associates
Drexel University is planning a 40,000-square-foot lawn at the former site of Myers Hall in University City.
Drexel University will soon begin work on a new green space at the former site of Myers Hall, a decades-old residency that's now in the process of being demolished at the University City campus.
Plans for the 40,000-square-foot recreational field were unveiled last year as part of a wider set of projects the university is undertaking to make its campus more walkable and student-friendly. The project is described as a "front lawn" on the north side of the campus in the area of 33rd and Race streets.
Drexel officials said they're targeting a fall opening for the new field, which will preserve eight existing trees and add 104 new ones. The lawn will be mostly open space and planting beds but will include a plaza with seating. The space also will have electrical outlets, as requested by students who gave their input on the design.
"It's answering a student need to have an open space for recreation, where students can hang out while enjoying being outside," Nancy Trainer, Drexel's former university architect and associate vice president of facilities, said last year.
Myers Hall opened in 1977 as part of a major building boom at Drexel. It was one of 21 buildings Drexel opened between 1960-1980 after having built just eight in the university's first seven decades of operation. The three-story building had last been renovated in 2005 and housed about 400 students prior to its closure.
The first phase of Myers Hall's demolition began last August and was completed earlier this winter. The second phase involves constructing a small building on the north end of the site that will house electrical equipment to serve power to the area. The site's existing switchgear building and the rest of Myers Hall will be torn down once this phase is completed in the coming months.
In recent years, Drexel completed a $42 million renovation and expansion of Kelly Hall, a residency for first-year students that sits just west of where the new lawn will be built. Kelly Hall reopened last fall with a new student common area, lounge spaces and an outdoor patio.
Other campus upgrades include plans for new walkways that will make it easier and safer for students to get around, the university said. One of the planned pathways will stretch about seven blocks between Drexel Square and uCity Square at 37th and Filbert streets. Some segments of this path have already been built while others will be constructed as part of other development projects.
The lawn will be slightly smaller than the 1 1/3-acre Drexel Square, which opened across from 30th Street Station in 2019 as part of the university's Schuylkill Yards development with Brandywine Realty Trust. Behind Drexel Square, a new Urbanspace food hall is planned at the Spark Therapeutics building, formerly the home of the Philadelphia Bulletin newspaper. That project originally was expected to open last fall but remains unfinished. Food options immediately around the train station are now limited with the recent closure of 30th Street Station's food court, which is set to be transformed as part of a yearslong renovation.
Urbanspace, which operates multiple food markets in New York City, did not immediately respond to a request for an updated timeline for its Philadelphia project.
Drexel anticipates the new lawn will be used for a range of student activities and programs. The university plans to continue seeking student input in the coming months.
Another rendering shows Drexel University's planned 'front lawn' near 33rd and Race streets.
