UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland and members of her leadership team will hold a forum to provide community members with an update on the 2020 Project and university facilities to be located in downtown Merced. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, in the California Room on campus.
“This is an opportunity for our local community members to learn about our growth plans both on campus and in the community,” said Cori Lucero, executive director of governmental and community relations. “We hope many people will attend and bring questions they may have for us.”
The 2020 Project is an ambitious initiative to cost-effectively and rapidly double the size of the campus’s current footprint to provide significant increases in teaching and research facilities, student housing, athletics facilities and support space. The ultimate result will be a vibrant, collaborative and sustainable campus for 10,000 students.
In addition to the planned growth on campus, UC Merced has two projects in the works for downtown Merced.
First, a new business incubator will open in the fall in the Parcade building at 18th and M streets as a partnership between the city and the campus’s Office of Research and Economic Development.
The Alliance Small Business Development Center's Merced office, which is part of the UC Merced SBDC Regional Network, is scheduled to move in next month and will continue to provide entrepreneurs and businesses with consulting, workshops, training and research assistance.
The other project will be the Downtown Center at the corner of 18th and N streets. Due to open in late 2017, the building will house approximately 370 employees, including but not limited to staff from Business and Administrative Services, the Office of Planning and Budget, the Office of Governmental and Community Relations, and the Office of University Communications.
For the community forum on July 29, community members may park for free in any unmarked and unreserved parking space in the Lake Lot.
