Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings
has been serious about town-gown relations since day one. With the
support of many others, he added to that legacy Wednesday.
When Rawlings first arrived in Ithaca from the University of Iowa
in 1995, City Hall-East Hill relations were strained. The ill will
was symbolized by Ithaca withholding campus building permits until
the university upped its payments in lieu of taxes to the city.
A lot has changed since then. Day Hall and Ithaca signed a
long-term agreement a few weeks after Rawlings took office and later
in 1995, Alan Cohen was elected mayor.
Increasingly, the CU-city partnership has developed into a
win-win model at many levels. It was highlighted by this week's
announcement of a new downtown office building that will be home to
300 university employees -- plus 200 other office workers -- by
2004.
"A successful downtown Ithaca will be a successful part of the
university's future," Rawlings told The Journal Tuesday. "A lot is
at stake here for Cornell and there is a will to make this happen."
It is that sense of purpose and vision that makes this
development such a laudable achievement. It also reflects the Cohen
administration's commitment to support a strong downtown core, while
plans proceed for large-scale retail development in Southwest Park.
Nothing is more valuable to a functioning downtown's economy than
a solid work force. Visitors are key, too, but in the end, office
workers will spend four times as much money in downtown businesses.
Many people worked hard on a plan that calls for a
130,000-square-foot building with Cornell as its primary (70,000
square feet) tenant for 20 years. Key players included Common
Council members, notably Susan Blumenthal, D-3rd Ward, former
university Vice President Fred Rogers, Director of Cornell's Real
Estate Department John Majeroni and a variety of City Hall and CU
staff members.
The new building won't go up without a lot of future debate,
including what to do about parking. But perhaps more important than
the work to be done is Rawlings' bottom-line analysis of town-gown
relations today: "It's good for Cornell and good for the city. It
reflects a very strong partnership."
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