This is the sixth part of a feature series examining the changing face of downtown Madison.
The University of Wisconsin will begin construction on a new residence hall today, part of a major project that will change the entire look of the downtown campus over the course of the next 16 years.
Workers will break ground for the new co-ed, 425-bed dorm on the corner of Park and Regent Streets this morning. The dorm is expected to be finished and ready for occupancy in August 2006, according to Director of University Housing Paul Evans.
The Park Street hall will feature larger rooms and smaller bathrooms for fewer students. Instead of a common bathroom for an entire floor, the hall will have restrooms for every two to three rooms. Each floor will also have common areas and a small kitchen with first floors utilizing academic and community support spaces many UW dorms have.
"The rooms are larger because they need to be larger," Evans said. "When most of the buildings were built in the 60s, no one imagined computers, stereos or lofts like today."
The dorm will also feature a cafeteria similar to a mix between Ed's Express and Pop's Club in the southeast dorms, according to Evans. The complex will also feature a small deli, coffee house, a parking ramp and offices for university personnel.
"I'm excited about it. I'm glad construction is beginning," Evans said.
Ald. Austin King, District 8, called the addition of the dorm a large difference to current residential halls because it will incorporate state-of-the-art and quality facilities for students.
"It's going to be a great addition after Ogg Hall's bordering on Cruel and Unusual," King said jokingly. "We're all excited about it, and I'm looking forward to seeing it being occupied."
King, a member of the Joint Southeast Campus Committee, has been involved with other campus projects, such as the Murray Street Mall-East Campus Mall development.
The addition of the Park Street Hall will also create a better aesthetic appeal to the area, which is currently filled with a vacant lot and a run down garage, King said.
Unlike most campus construction, the Park Street hall work should not affect student pedestrian traffic because the location is not in heavily-trafficked areas of campus, Evans added. Work on the new dormitory will continue throughout the year despite the winter conditions.
The Park Street hall is part of the first phase of three that will reshape the campus. Phase One will continue into 2010 and feature three new dormitory constructions: Park Street hall in 2006, Dayton Street hall in 2007 and University Square hall in 2008. Renovations of Chabourne and Barnard Halls are also included.
The Park Street hall construction and the later Dayton Street hall will replace the void left from Ogg Hall after its demolition in 2007.
UW is following a published plan for many of the on-campus projects in the Residence Halls and Food Service Master Plan 2004-2020.
"A major investment in the building of new residence halls and the remodeling of selected halls is necessary in order to assure that the University of Wisconsin-Madison [sic] can provide quality on-campus housing in 2020 and beyond," the Master Plan states.
