More details requested on proposed Columbia U. building in Inwood by Daniel P. Bader Columbia University further detailed its plans for a new athletic complex on the corner of W. 218th Street and Broadway during a Community Board 12 meeting on Nov. 4. University officials once again presented the plans for a park that would adjoin Inwood Hill Park and create an acre of wetland where a parking lot and a gravel shore now exist. However, CB12 members and the public want university officials to provide more information about the entire project. “What we want is to get a more complete picture of what is proposed,” said CB12 Land Use Committee Chair Wayne Benjamin at a joint meeting of the Parks and Recreation and Land Use Committees. No plans for the site have been drafted. But the northwest corner of W. 218th Street and Broadway, which one resident pointed out anchors one of the busiest intersections in the community, will be the new home to a roughly 45,000-square-foot, five-story building that will house lockers, offices and classrooms for the school’s athletic program. The university’s plans will require it to apply for a variance to build in excess of city zoning regulations on a waterfront block. Officials hope that the proposed one-acre park and other improvement around Inwood Hill Park will satisfy the city. The packed room of neighborhood residents had several questions surrounding access for local residents and students to the new facility, what other options there are for waterfront access and complications around construction. “I’ve heard you,” said Joe Mannino, Interim Associate Vice President of Capital Project Management. “Let’s come back with a complete plan.” The Manhattan Times is the bilingual newspaper of Washington Heights and Inwood.
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