It’s a green light for renaming about 20 of UCF’s streets and assigning new, individual addresses to buildings on the main campus now that Orange County has approved the changes that will go into effect May 5.
The changes were necessary for two reasons: All state agencies are being required to establish unique addresses for buildings in their property inventory, and some new road names were needed because they were duplicated elsewhere in the county. This will help first responders provide quicker assistance and will improve directions for deliveries and visitors.
All buildings on campus have long used one address – 4000 Central Florida Blvd. – but now, each academic building, residence hall, retail establishment and other location has been assigned a numbered street address based on the closest roadway.
Campus departments should continue to use their current ZIP+4 address designations for U.S. Postal Service and UCF interoffice mail. There is no need to reprint stationery, business cards or brochures. Departments are asked to update their websites with the new information but not to use the new street addresses for mailing.
The university wanted to keep the 4000 Central Florida Blvd. address for the Visitor and Parking Information office, but it had to be changed to 4001 because the building is on the side of the street that uses odd numbers elsewhere in the county. The campus 32816 ZIP code will continue to be used.
In addition to new street names – such as Mensa Lane, Knights Victory Way, Home Run Court and Scholarship Drive – there also will be some new building names. Some of the names are minor, such as converting Classroom Building 2 to Classroom Building II, while others will be more noticeable, such as renaming the Mathematics & Physics Building to the Mathematical Sciences Building. Some of the names are more descriptive, such as the Commons becoming the Libra Community Center.
The street-name changes, which have been worked on for a year, will only affect the interior of the campus. Roads entering the university will remain the same, as will names on regional campuses and in Central Florida Research Park.
UCF Police Chief Richard Beary said emergency 911 dispatchers and responders are being trained for all the changed names.
A campus map with the new names will be available before the fall semester, and planners also are working to coordinate electronic mapping services with Orange County and companies such as Google and MapQuest.
Even some of the building abbreviations are being changed to avoid confusion, such as changing the Physical Sciences Building from PS to PSB, which used to identify the Public Safety Building. The Public Safety Building will now be identified as UPD.
Behind the scenes, telecommunications is updating the UCF phone book, the Registrar’s Office is changing class schedules to reflect the new building names and abbreviations, and “You Are Here” signs will be updated this summer.