During the public hearing on the city’s proposed educational zoning, ordinance 8851, Webster Groves Mayor Gerry Welch asked university President Elizabeth Stroble to clarify what the university’s intentions on the Eden campus were. Stroble said there are no plans for Eden’s campus past those already stated or in the university master plan.
“There is absolutely nothing else on the property that we have any designs on,” Stroble said. “It isn’t as though our master plan depends on owning Eden. That’s not what our master plan is about.”
The Webster Groves City Council voted to extend the public hearing to gather more information and clarify issues within the new bill.
Stroble said if dorm space were hypothetically open for leasing, Webster would be interested in taking advantage of the beds on Eden’s campus.
“Look how long its taking us to get the parking garage and the science building. I really need dorm space now. It would take some pressure off the housing situation if we could temporarily have some students in the Eden housing,” Stroble said.
Update: Dec. 3, 7:00 p.m.
Before the meeting, in a work session, Welch listed three issues the council needed to address in the proposal: the recorded square footage of Eden Theological Seminary’s land, what educational district the Luhr Library would fall into and the CUP process for those buildings.
Eden was previously recorded at 250,000 square feet, the size of the campus has been corrected and now is 149,000 square feet. Members of the council agreed Eden’s recorded size changing would affect many of the aspects proposed zonings. Welch said it was something the council would discuss in their closed session.
The council will hold the next public hearing on the proposed educational zoning on Dec. 16.