Regents trim list of possible branch campus sites

The UW Board of Regents approved a revised list of branch campus alternative sites March 16, narrowing the possibilities to three each for campuses planned for the Tacoma and the Bothell/Woodinville areas.

The three Bothell/Woodinville finalists are: on and adjacent to the Wellington Hills Golf Course, located at the intersection of State Routes 9 and 522; an expanded area for the Fortin Farm site east of Interstate 405 near Canyon Park; and a state-owned, wooded site near Crystal Lake.

In Tacoma, the three finalists are: a tract in the historic warehouse district bound by Jefferson and Pacific avenues and 23rd Street; a state-owned parcel adjacent to the Tacoma Community College; and a parcel in downtown Tacoma bound by Jefferson and Tacoma avenues and 13th and 25th streets.

The University will prepare an environmental impact statement on the six sites. After studies have been completed, the regents will rank the sites and recommend land acquisition to the state Higher Education Coordinating Board. Those recommendations may come in September, but construction would not begin until around 1995. Both branch campuses will open in temporary quarters on Oct. 1.