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A new "college walk" and transit hub in Conklin Hall are among the proposals to makeover Rutgers-Newark's campus in the university's new master plan. Rutgers officials gave a preview of the plan to the university's board of governors Thursday. (Artist's rendering | Rutgers University)

NEWARK — Rutgers-Newark's jumble of crowded streets and aging buildings would be replaced by a pedestrian-friendly campus with modern classrooms and free wifi under a new plan presented by university officials yesterday.

The campus makeover is part of Rutgers' new physical master plan, a long-term outline for the future of the state university's land and buildings.

The master plan, which represents the university's wish list for each of its campuses, will not be finalized for several months. But the Rutgers Board of Governors got a preview of the Rutgers-Newark portion during its meeting Thursday in Newark.

Antonio Calcado, Rutgers' vice president of university facilities and capital planning, showed the board artists' renderings of a renovated library, a new transit hub, a new honors college and other improvements designed to better link the campus to Newark's surrounding neighborhoods.

"We are of the city. The city is of us," Calcado said.

A proposed new staircase in the heart of a renovated Robeson Campus Center is part of a new master plan for Rutgers-Newark's campus. The university's board of governors got a preview of the plan Thursday in Newark. (Artist's rendering | Rutgers University)

At the heart of the plan is a proposal to created a multi-block pedestrian walkway through the Rutgers-Newark campus. The multi-block path would allow people to walk from Martin Luther King Boulevard to Military Park, Calcado said.

The path would begin with a new grand staircase, called a "social staircase," cutting through the aging Robeson Campus Center. Then, Rutgers would renovate the campus library to allow pedestrians to walk through a corridor on the lower level.

Finally, Rutgers would petition city officials to clear car traffic from New Street to allow a green space to extend several more blocks to Military Park on the other side of the campus, Calcado said.

"You can take a nice leisurely walk all through the campus," Calcado said. "We need to partner with the city on a lot of this."

Additional plans include:

Creating an Honors Living and Learning Center on Washington Street to attract high-achieving students to campus.

Upgrading the wireless internet service on campus so free wifi extends from Military Park, across the Rutgers campus and into the neighboring campus of New Jersey Institute of Technology. The wifi would also include all streets between Raymond Boulevard and Orange Street.

Renovating Dana Library to include more computer labs, collaborative space and a cafe. Updating the library was on top of many students' wish lists, according to campus surveys.

Creating a new transportation hub in Conklin Hall where commuting students could study and recharge their computers and phones as they wait for buses and other transportation.

Rutgers also needs to update the Newark campus' outdated classrooms and partner with NJ Transit to offer better transportation alternatives to students, university officials said.

Rutgers has already started on some of the proposals, including the plans for the new building for honors students on Washington Street. But most of the new master plan remains a wish list, Calcado said.

University officials did not present any plans to finance the proposals, though the master plan calls for partnering with private developers to overhaul property on Washington Street.

Neither students nor the public was given a chance to comment on the Rutgers-Newark makeover proposals during Thursday's preview of the master plan for the Rutgers Board of Governors.

In February, Rutgers previewed a similar master plan for the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus. It included a new student center, dining hall and a pedestrian bridge over the Raritan River.

The plan for the Rutgers-Camden campus will be presented at a future meeting of the Rutgers Board of Governors, school officials said.

The university spent 18 months coming up with the new physical plan, which looked at all of Rutgers' 700 buildings and 600 acres of land across the state.

Rutgers hired a team of consultants from Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) and Sasaki Associates to oversee the project. The firms, known jointly as RAMSA/Sasaki, were scheduled to be paid about $2 million for their help with the planning process.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find NJ.com on Facebook.