From what I have heard around campus, the park is there as a placeholder until they can buy out the lonely Subway. They did not want the other businesses to renew leases and slow down the process so they bought the area when it was available. There has been talk of putting in a full sized auditorium and some sort of smaller hotel so that there is place to put visiting researchers/families besides the Inn on Ferry or the empty student apartments. I don't know how much of that is actual fact- it was just floating around for a while. The "Wayne Way" also involves wild speculation on any given topic. People like to talk.

That the Union at Midtown was closed/condemned so soon after opening should not be a shock to anyone. We watched that building go up in what seemed to be a matter of months- I have never seen anything so cheaply constructed. They really should have put more effort into them, especially considering the prime location.