Bulldozing a publicly funded classroom at one of the nation’s best public universities to make room for a corporate hotel is another matter entirely.

Salamanders like this one are a part of the living laboratory that will be torn down when construction of the hotel begins.

But in a manner of speaking, that is exactly what is being proposed here at Stony Brook. The “classroom” doesn’t have walls or desks, but the woods by the main entrance of the university do serve as a living laboratory for thousands of students.

Caitlin Fisher-Reid is one of those students. She is a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolution whose dissertation on the evolutionary processes of the terrestrial woodland salamander will be significantly impacted should construction on the property begin before she completes her research in two years.

The 13-acre plot of land appropriated for the hotel is one of Fisher-Reid’s most successful field sites for her research, out of 30 other locations across Suffolk County.

“I consider it one of my high quality sites because every time I go there I find salamanders,” she said.

For two years, from March to mid-November, Fisher-Reid has been taking expeditions into the forest twice a week to find salamanders and take various measurements of environmental factors and the creatures themselves.

The focus of Fisher-Reid’s dissertation, color variations (or morphs) within the same species, makes the site even more valuable. That particular forest is home to one of the best contact zones between two color morphs of the species, she says.

“My project has the potential to generate a lot of long term monitoring of these salamanders and of the environment in general,” said Fisher-Reid.

While Fisher-Reid may be the biggest beneficiary of the forest, its educational significance is felt by many more students and faculty on campus.

“Beyond the scope of my dissertation, the forest is used,” she said. “Once I leave, the forest is still going to be used.”

Catherine Graham, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, is constantly looking for ways to provide students with real world examples of what is discussed in class, and the forest provides the best window for doing just that.

The current proposal calls for a five-story building to accommodate 135 rooms, a 5000 square foot conference center, an indoor pool, and a restaurant, exercise facility and sundry shop.

The hotel will be built on a ground lease from the state, as indicated by the blue outline.

The structure itself would be a predominantly brick building much like the Humanities building, and located nearby. It will be built opposite the Administration building parking garage, on the far side of Circle Road.

A private company, like Holiday Inn or Marriott, would run the hotel, but exactly which company will be operating the hotel has yet to be formally announced. Because the hotel would be on state property, a ground lease had to be acquired before any private corporation could pursue building.

Plans for a hotel on campus have been discussed and debated for years, but have never been actively pursued until now because of various concerns raised by faculty, staff and community members over the environmental and aesthetic impact a new structure would have.

The Campus Environment Committee was informed of the decision, made formally by President Samuel L. Stanley at the University Senate meeting on October 5, on Tuesday, and the reaction was largely negative.

“We’re disappointed in the decision,” said newly elected committee chair John Robinson.

The committee has been keenly aware of the proposal to build an on-campus hotel for years, and has fought the plans on several fronts. Malcolm Bowman, another member of the committee, addressed the concern surrounding the location of the hotel.

“It seems like there was never a serious effort to get another ground lease,” he said, speaking of the current lease that has already been approved by the state. “[The committee] has consistently opposed a hotel at the entrance to the university.”

Unless the university files for another ground lease elsewhere on campus, the current location will be the only possible option for a privately owned hotel.

Amy Provenzano, Executive Director of Environmental Stewardship at Stony Brook University, assured the committee members that their concerns had been taken into account when the floor plans for the hotel were drawn up and approved by President Stanley.

“The university has been very supportive and has listened to the committee,” she said.

The university indeed has commissioned an environmental impact study for the proposal, and Provenzano says that the hotel “[would] be built sustainably.”

But the current plans do not call for the hotel to meet LEED standards, a rating system that measures the environmental sustainability of construction projects. Former President Shirley Strum Kenny had previously stated that all new university buildings—though not necessarily non-university buildings like a privately owned hotel—would be built to LEED Silver, the lowest rating in the system.

The hotel would be accessible from Circle Road, directly across from the back entrance of the Administration building parking lot. At five stories, it would likely be visible from Nicolls Road and certainly be visible from the main entrance to the West Campus, a fact that concerned members of the Campus Environment Committee.

While the hotel plans will be moving forward, smaller details about the new building are still being debated, including the placement of signage and the exact amount of open space provided. A parking lot that circles the hotel would be buffered by green space.

When asked just how far along the plans are for the new hotel, and whether the hotel will be happening one way or another, Provenzano responded simply: “yes.”