The University Club reopened Jan. 23 with a brand new first floor, called the Union Commons.
The Union Commons was created by the Wisconsin Union and will serve as a café with house-made food items, Wisconsin Union Communications Director Shauna Breneman said in an email to The Badger Herald.
The University Club has a long history at the University of Wisconsin, having first opened in 1907. The building is considered part of the Bascom Hill Historical District and is a Tudor Revival Style building according to Breneman.
“The Tudor Revival style building has been noted numerous times as a historically significant and special part of Madison dining, intellectual exchange and social life,” Breneman said.
The Wisconsin Union absorbed the University Club in June of 2021 due to financial difficulties spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, Breneman said. But this wasn’t the first time the University Club faced financial trouble.
During the Great Depression, the title to the building was sold to UW. This allowed the University Club to remain autonomous in its activities, but UW owned the building.
Since then, UW has worked to preserve the building.
“Our team has conducted many efforts to reopen the Club in a way that makes the most of its space and retains its historic charm,” Breneman said. “This included redesigning spaces to maximize seating and provide efficient and cost-effective dining experiences, cleaning, painting, installing new dining equipment, and installing some new plumbing.”
The reopening of the University Club’s first floor will provide more student employment opportunities and will also add more places for the community to spend time relaxing.
Currently, the spaces in the University Club are not open for events. But the Union will continue to evaluate the potential usage of the space for events, Breneman said.
The University Club might eventually be opened to the greater community — including government agencies, Wisconsin Union lifetime or annual members and more, Breneman said.
Wisconsin Union President and UW student Lauren Damgaard said the Union is going to work to host events in the Union Commons space — something that was often done before the pandemic.
Some rooms in the building are still being worked on, even with the opening of the Commons. Those spaces will be opened for events in the future, Damgaard said.
Employee at the café in the Union Commons Sybil Kong said she thinks the Commons will become busy later on in the semester, as more people discover its warm atmosphere and food options.
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“Union Commons at the University Club features many house-made food items as well as a café with a variety of coffee, tea and other beverages,” Breneman said.
The Union Commons will be open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. to the public, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch.
