Touro University is about to come above the radar screen for the citizens of Vallejo.
Touro’s new University Village will be located at the north end of Mare Island adjacent to Highway 37. The current Mare Island campus was started in 1998 in the former Combat Systems buildings, on 44-acres and with 60 students. Today, there are over 900 graduate students, a population projected to grow to over 2,500, even without the expansion.
Baycrossings Staff Report
Published: February, 2007
In Sept. 2006, the non-profit university with 29 campuses worldwide, proposed a plan to the City of Vallejo to develop the north end of Mare Island (a 191 acre site) as a sustainable university community, with related light industry and health research centers. Their vision is to build one of the first entirely green communities built to LEED standards. LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and a nationally accepted benchmark for green design, construction and operation of buildings that consume far less energy and fresh water.
On Jan. 9, 2007, the Vallejo City Council voted unanimously to accept the proposal. The plan is for the City of Vallejo to remediate the land, which will be funded by the Navy, and then transfer the land to Touro University.
Touro and its educational partners, California Maritime Academy and Solano Community College, hope to transform Vallejo into a thriving academic community. Touro’s ambitious plan proposes lecture and research facilities, faculty and staff housing, student housing, private development research space, retail shops, pedestrian river walk, a park, an athletic field, a protected wildlife habitat, a community center, high-end business and a light industrial park.
How soon can we expect to see the university campus on Mare Island become a sustainable community?
Dick Hassel, Vice President of Administration for Touro University, said it will take about 24 months to see the first structures. But given the environmental remediation issues, he called it rocket speed.
Despite having received the unanimous approval from Vallejo City Council, Touro University is committed to an open public process for its development plans. In the next several months, there will be public meetings where the plans will be discussed and public input encouraged.
