NEWS
Committee charts preliminary campus plan
Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.
Also by Aubre Andrus:
- UW prepares for Halloween (October 20, 2005)
- City prepares for Halloween (October 20, 2005)
- In-Depth: State Street's balancing act (September 1, 2005)
- In-Depth: Destination: class (November 3, 2005)
Related Stories:
- Committee weighs in on visitor center (April 22, 2005)
- Development talks continue (March 31, 2005)
- Officials detail campus master plan (February 16, 2005)
- Regent Street future on city agenda (March 22, 2007)
- Officials, students to discuss master plan (January 31, 2005)
by Aubre Andrus
Friday, January 28, 2005
The Joint West Campus Area Committee, a group that acts as a liaison between the west campus and all the neighborhoods surrounding it, discussed the University of Wisconsin campus master plan Wednesday night.
Committee member Ald. Robbie Webber, District 5, said although the group discussed the future of campus buildings such as Van Hise and Union South, the university has only finalized construction plans for the next three years, and it does not include the destruction of these buildings.
“This is very, very preliminary,” Webber stressed. “There are no immediate plans to tear these down.”
Webber added the campus master plan is based on a 20-year horizon, and the earliest replacement of these buildings would occur in no fewer than 10 years.
While construction during the next three years is finalized, the campus has only a vague idea of master plans for the following three to six years, Webber added.
Plan commission member Nan Fey said the meetings are meant for public feedback and discussion. The removal or replacement of many buildings is only in a draft form, she added.
Ald. Andy Heidt, District 13, also a member of the committee, said he understands the need to modernize certain buildings on campus, especially Van Hise.
“I could see with the change in needs in terms of wireless technology,” Heidt said. “The whole wiring in this era is so much more intrinsic to the educational experience than when the building was first built.”
According to Webber, as the university has analyzed its master plan, it has discovered many buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s are not worth upgrading. For some buildings, such as Ogg Hall, it is more appropriate to tear the structure down and build a replacement.
According to Webber, UW is the second-largest recipient of federal research grants in the country. Since UW is becoming a leader in the biomedical engineering and genetics fields, more research space is needed, she added.
An interdisciplinary research building is in the fundraising and design stages and will be located next to UW Hospital. Fey noted one of the goals of the master plans is to update university facilities, especially the medical buildings on the west side of campus.
According to Mark Shahan, committee member, a children’s hospital has just broke ground on the west side of the hospital. Shahan added the costs of the campus construction will not affect tuition rates but come mainly from donations and trust funds.
The new $180 million West Campus Cogeneration Facility may cause some construction on part of Observatory Drive, near the hospital and tennis courts, according to Webber. There are utilities which need to be laid down in order to connect the new power plant to buildings on campus.
If students want to know more about future plans for the campus, they should come to a committee meeting, Webber said. Many ideas discussed are only visions of what the committee wants the campus to look like 20 years from now.
“I’ve been hearing about the master plan for four months, and every time I go to another meeting, I hear something new,” Webber said.
