What can we do to improve the appearance and function of historic Varney Circle and fountain on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus? The university is asking the campus community—students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors—to help answer that question by filling out a 10-minute online survey and offering their ideas.
Exploring new ideas for the future of Varney Circle is part of the UH Mānoa Campus Framework and Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) for the next 10 years that includes converting interior roads into pedestrian malls and the replacement or renovation of four of the main buildings on campus.
Varney Circle, which is listed on Hawaiʻi’s Register of Historic Places, is where Campus Center, Hawaiʻi Hall, Queen Liliʻuokalani Center for Student Services and McCarthy Mall intersect. It was designed in 1934 by faculty and students and named in honor of a distinguished faculty member, Ada Susan Varney.
The survey was developed by the UH Community Design Center in cooperation with UH Office of Planning and Facilities. The results will inform and guide participants in a unique, two-day “Design Tank,” which will explore alternative scenarios for the future development of Varney Circle, one of UH Mānoa’s most important focal points. Design Tank participants will include faculty members, architects, landscape architects, urbanists and students in the environmental design disciplines.
The design ideas will be presented to a review panel of UH Mānoa’s academic and administrative leaders, including representatives of the faculty senate, the Associated Students of UH Mānoa and the Graduate Student Organization. Stay tuned to UH News for more on the project and the other LRDP updates.
For more information, contact uhcdc@hawaii.edu or go to the website.
