The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is tearing down a paved commercial area on the site of a creek and restoring it to its natural state. “Landscape engineers tell us this will be the biggest project of de-urbanization in the history of the state,” Dave Millay, director of the university’s physical plant and chair of the Coleman Creek Greenway Project, said in a press release.

The site, once a shopping center, will revert to native trees and grasses. The restoration is part of a 47-acre greenway project that will feature bicycle and walking trails. Biologists, earth scientists, and hydrologists will also teach and conduct research in what university officials are calling an “outdoor laboratory.”

Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians stopped at this site during their march on the Trail of ...

The University of Regina is building a $3.5-million hydrogen-production plant to demonstrate the viability of the gas as a fuel, Gasworld reports. The plant will produce two kilograms of hydrogen every hour. Officials at Regina believe that the plant, scheduled to open in 2008, is the first of its kind in the world.

The hydrogen will be used to power some university vehicles and the building in which the plant is located, says Raphael Idem, a professor of industrial engineering there.

The viability of hydrogen as a fuel has long been debated. It is a clean energy source that can be used in fuel cells. But critics have contended that hydrogen is expensive to produce and difficult to transport and store. Additionally, they say, using it on a mass scale would require a whole new energy infrastructure.

An article in the...

(Photo by Roland Halbe Fotografie)

The new addition to the Akron Art Museum, a 63,000-square-foot facility attached to a 19th-century Renaissance-revival building, opens today. The striking and contemporary structure was designed by the Viennese firm Coop Himmelb(l)au. (What is it with high-end design firms and difficult names?)

Art museums have long been the playground of star architects and signature firms. Think of Louis Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum, the Wexner Center for the Arts by Peter Eisenman, or the Frederick R. Weisman Museum by Frank Gehry. Recent years have been no exception — in fact, we seem to have seen more star projects at art museums lately. Rafael Viñoly designed the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, which opened a couple of years ago.

How the Akron building stands up to such company is difficult to tell. It got a

Northern Kentucky University is making news with its plan to spend more than $4-million on various sustainability projects, including buying recycled building materials and green power. According to an Associated Press story, the university expects to save more than $600,000 in energy costs from the effort.

Of course, $4-million is a drop in the bucket compared with what the university would have to spend to become really sustainable. Northern Kentucky has signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, so the university will have to consider some of the pledges associated with that commitment in the near future.