Point Park University, which began as a secretarial school in 1933, has refashioned itself so much that it now is embarking on a $210 million plan to expand its campus.

Point Park yesterday unveiled plans to create an "Academic Village" Downtown, including moving the Pittsburgh Playhouse from Oakland.

Pieces of the plan have been publicly discussed for several years as the university has been acquiring, through purchase or lease, the necessary property.

But the comprehensive plan unveiled yesterday made the breadth of its impact clearer.

At yesterday's presentation, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl termed the project "dynamic," calling it "probably the largest in terms of scope and scale" of any proposal for Downtown Pittsburgh.

Point Park President Paul Hennigan said the university has "literally run out of space" because the student body has expanded by more than 50 percent over the last decade.

The university expects enrollment to grow from about 3,600 this school year to 4,300 by 2013, with most of the growth in traditional undergraduate students. The number living in university student housing Downtown is expected to grow from 750 to 1,200.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said that the increased number of students Downtown will help because students will be out day and night. "That activity, you can't put a price tag on what that does for the perception of Downtown," he said.

In addition to the increase in students, Dr. Hennigan said the project will result in 100 additional faculty and staff members and at least 40,000 others coming to see productions at the new Playhouse.

In the strategic plan, the first phase focuses primarily on the block bounded by Wood and Smithfield streets, the Boulevard of the Allies and First Avenue.

It includes opening a new student center in the existing YMCA; building a new gymnasium, with a 1,000-seat indoor basketball and volleyball arena, on a parking lot next to the Y; turning two existing eight-story buildings into student housing; and creating a park at the corner of Wood Street and Boulevard of the Allies on what is now a surface parking lot.

The second phase is the Pittsburgh Playhouse complex, which is to be located in the block bounded by Wood and Smithfield streets and Forbes and Fourth avenues.

The new Playhouse complex, which will have an entrance on Forbes Avenue, will include three theaters, ranging from 150 to 500 seats each; production and teaching areas; a residence hall; and retail space. It will be a combination of new construction on two surface parking lots and use of existing buildings under university control.

Dr. Hennigan said the Playhouse building in Oakland has "far outlived its useful life."

He said the college will try to preserve the facades of existing buildings as much as possible.

"We love the architecture in this neighborhood," he said.

The plans call for creating a "true boulevard" along the Boulevard of the Allies from Market Street to Smithfield Street. It plans to plant 150 trees along the Boulevard and Wood Street.

The university does not control all of the buildings and land in the affected blocks, but it does control -- leases, owns or is purchasing -- the ones it wants.

There has been speculation that the university was interested in two other buildings -- One Smithfield Street and Wood Street Commons -- but Dr. Hennigan said it is not.

The properties controlled by the university stretch from Fort Pitt Boulevard to Forbes Avenue along or within a block of Wood Street.

The first phase -- the Wood Street corridor and along the Boulevard of the Allies -- is expected to cost $71 million, including $29 million from the university and $42 million through fund-raising.

The Playhouse phase is expected to cost $139 million, including $44 million from the university; $61 million to be raised; and $34 million from a public-private partnership for 400 parking spaces beneath the theater complex.

In the first phase, the Point Park contribution for residence halls and property acquisition is through debt. A decision will be made later about the second phase, which may be paid for through university cash or debt.

In total, the university will need to raise about $103 million. As part of that, it will be asking the state for $14 million for street improvements and the like.

The goal is ambitious for a university with a $20.7 million endowment and a $69.1 million annual operating budget.

The planned investments follow $60 million in capital improvements over the last decade.

The timeline for the project starts with a residence hall next to the current YMCA to be completed this year and finishes with the new Playhouse in 2015. The timeline could change, depending on funding.