University Seeks to Raze Five Carlson Terrace Buildings West of College Branch, Expand Green Space

Fayetteville, Ark. - The University of Arkansas is seeking trustee approval of a request to raze five buildings on the west side of Carlson Terrace Apartments. The UA Board of Trustees will meet at 10 a.m. Friday, June 3 on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

Students residing in this area have been offered similar accommodations in the remaining Carlson Terrace units on the east side of the property, as well as assistance with moving.

As of today, 36 tenants had contracted to move to the east side of the complex. Two tenants, whose needs for accessible housing could not be adequately met in the east side buildings, are being moved off campus to equally priced housing that more adequately meets their needs. 

Eight west side apartments used by Spring International Language Center for housing visiting international students have been replaced by eight set aside on the east side of the complex. Spring International is a University of Arkansas affiliated center.

The Razorback Band will lose access to one unit it has used as storage space.

The Carlson Terrace complex is located just off Leroy Pond Street and Razorback Road at 1175 West Leroy Pond Street. The closing of five of the 15 apartment buildings located at the Carlson Terrace site would be consistent with the university’s campus master plan completed in 1998 by Sasaki & Associates.  The plan recommends removal of these units to provide additional recreation space. 

Following demolition of the units, the university plans to create green space in the area. 

Carlson Terrace was designed by Edward Durell Stone, the Fayetteville native best known for designing the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.

The units in Carlson Terrace that are under consideration through this request were evaluated in terms of habitability and to determine the potential cost of renovation. The apartments were built between 1958 and 1961, and partially renovated in the early 1990s. To bring them to contemporary standards would require an investment of an estimated $5 million.

However, the relative quality of the units and the amenities they would offer would still remain below those typical of other housing on campus, while the need to repay the debt incurred would cause the price of the units to rise to the same levels as the higher priced housing.

The removal of the buildings would expand the green space on campus in alignment with the efforts underway by the Audubon Society and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Audubon staff embarked on the College Branch Watershed Project this spring. The goal of the project is to coordinate a plan that will develop and implement strategies for reducing pollutants in the West Fork of the White River, while raising awareness and education for healthy watersheds.  The College Branch originates on the U of A campus near the complex and converges with Town Branch in the West Fork of the White River.

Pending trustee approval, the university plans to begin demolition in June.