Metro Council approves overlay for Lipscomb master plan
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After years of planning and revision, Lipscomb University's campus master plan was granted "institutional overlay" status by Metro Council last night.
The council voted 38-0 to approve the plan on third reading, making Lipscomb the first university in Nashville to be granted the new institutional overlay status.
The overlay is a feature of Metro's revised zoning ordinance, and allows institutions like Lipscomb to formally codify plans for future university growth and expansion, said Phil Ellenburg, general counsel for Lipscomb University. The overlay does not include David Lipscomb Campus School facilities.
Spearheaded by Tuck-Hinton Architects, Lipscomb worked with Metro Councilman Jim Shulman and other government officials, the Avalon Neighborhood Association, and others to create the master plan and achieve the institutional overlay, Ellenburg said.
The master plan is basically a map for future growth by the university, he said. It identifies three potential new academic buildings, two potential residence halls, an additional structure that could be academic or residential, depending on need; athletics/intramural fields, renovations and/or additions to existing structures, pedestrian access and walkways, parking, traffic, lighting and landscaping.
"It is a concept for what the Lipscomb campus will look like in future years," Ellenburg said.
Significant changes to the plan require new approvals from Metro Council, he said.
While there is no set timetable for fulfillment of the plan, the first priority is to complete fund raising and begin construction on the university's new Bible building, to be followed as closely as possible by the "reinvention" of the Burton Bible Building into a fine arts center.
Recent landscaping installations along Belmont Boulevard also reflect features of the master plan, Ellenburg said.