Down University Avenue, cranes fill the skyline around the site of the new University Square Center adjacent to Lucky — Steve Brown's newest apartment complex.
Two blocks away, on the corner of West Dayton and North Park streets, a state-of-the-art six-story facility — the new Ogg Hall — is the newest residence hall on campus, opening to 615 students this semester.
Heading west, the new $121 million Microbial Sciences building will open this fall, while progress continues on the east tower of the new $134 million Interdisciplinary Research Complex at the School of Medicine and Public Health.
University of Wisconsin students and Madison residents alike experienced the inconveniences of a season of construction this summer, but will begin to reap the benefits of newly improved city and campus facilities.
George Twigg, communications director for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said construction projects are part of the overall efforts to maintain city streets, sewer outlets and old infrastructure.
"It is a process of rebuilding our streets to keep them updated," Twigg said.
Alan Fish, UW associate vice chancellor for facilities, planning and management, said ongoing construction is a sign UW is a world-class university maintaining a vibrant campus.
"We are in the process of recreating ourselves right now," Fish said. "There are two kinds of universities — kinds that have lots of cranes and lots of construction and others that don't."
Construction on city property
Madison streets and city facilities were under repair throughout the summer as part of a continued effort to maintain the city’s infrastructure.
"There are two seasons: winter and construction," said City Council President Mike Verveer, District 4. "Madison is no exception, and this was the season of construction."
John Fahrney, construction engineer for the city of Madison, said the guiding force for the Wisconsin Avenue project was the need to replace the sanitary sewer system in the area.
But with the road torn apart, Fahrney said the construction crew would also repair sections of the curb and resurface the pavement.
A similar type of construction is also occurring on Randall Avenue between Regent Street and Spring Street, where the city is estimated to spend $825,000.
Although Fahrney said there have been few resident complaints, Randall Avenue is still closed for through traffic and no detours have been set up.
"We are hoping to be done (with Wisconsin Avenue) by the end of [August], but we lost a week because of the rain," Fahrney said. "Randall Avenue is scheduled to be paved … and will hopefully be opened to traffic and pedestrians who want to use the bike path for [the Sept. 1] football game."
East Washington Avenue is also undergoing construction as part of a continuing multimillion dollar project to improve the road leading to Highway 30.
Although Verveer said lane closures have caused slight inconveniences for some, he added such projects perform important functions such as resurfacing roads and replacing utilities and water mains.
Further, Verveer said construction was just completed on West Mifflin Street — and additional pedestrian-oriented lighting was installed on the 400-500 block as part of the movement to ensure city safety.
The plan, Verveer said, is to continue installing pedestrian street lighting when construction continues on Bedford and Broom Streets.
The new University Square
The new University Square will be a one-stop shopping and living environment for students, combining university space, student housing and retailers all in the same complex.
Retail space will occupy the bottom level of two towers, while Steve Brown Apartments will occupy one tower and the other will be devoted to UW.
Within the university tower, the third and fourth floors will have meeting rooms for student organizations; floors five through eight will house University Health Services; and floors nine through 11 will be the new site for student financial services — including the registrar and bursar.
Sue Springman, president of Executive Management Inc., the developer of the $1.1 million project, said the construction is relatively on track to open next August.
Springman said about half the retail space has been leased, but the names of the retailers cannot be released yet.
“Students have the added advantage of living there, maybe working there, using the UW Activity Center, health center and shopping,” Springman said. “It is a very central, convenient location and a great social atmosphere."
Margaret Watson, chief operating officer for Steve Brown Apartments, said Lucky — the apartment tower — will have very large, spacious apartments with the latest appliances, high ceilings, fireplaces and special sound-deadening walls.
In addition, Watson said each floor will have a lounge with wireless Internet, and the building will have 24-hour desk service, a business center and concierge services.
Watson said residents started signing leases late last spring, and 20 percent of the units have already been leased for the building’s opening next fall.
"There are huge benefits to living in University Square," Watson said. "Lucky is on campus and in the heart of the downtown. Everything a resident needs is within footsteps of their front door.”
Student housing options
Ogg Hall, the newest UW residence hall, was finished this summer and opened to 615 students this month.
In addition to construction on the new Ogg, UW Housing Director Paul Evans said Adams Hall received a new roof and Chadbourne Residential College is in the process of renovating its dining room, which will be completed this fall.
"Construction means your campus is improving and growing," Evans said. "Facilities are getting better, a good sign new things are happening.”
Evans said as October approaches, students will start to see the beginnings of future construction projects on the dorms.
According to the master plan for residence halls and food services, the old Ogg and the Peterson building will be torn down to provide more space for the Chazen Museum of Art.
In addition, the new Pres House — in the middle of Library Mall — opened as an alternative housing option for students who wish to be part of a supportive religious community.
Mark Elsdon, campus pastor and executive director of the Pres House, said construction on the building was completed in the middle of July. Currently, the residence hall is not completely filled.
"We want to provide a community for residents with supportive mentors, a chance to engage in volunteer activity, intellectual pursuit and spiritual exploration," Elsdon said. "We set out to make a comfortable home as opposed to just a place to live."
Campus facilities
Further development to the existing Grainger Hall was completed during the summer to provide students with the most modern facilities.
UW Associate Business Dean Melissa Amos-Landgraf said the construction of Grainger Hall is on schedule and will hopefully be operational sometime next August.
Amos-Landgraf said the business undergraduate computer lab, scheduled to open Sept. 4, was relocated to room 1200 in the existing Grainger Hall.
She said the addition will also house new classrooms and breakout rooms for other graduate programs, and there will be a large street-level auditorium. Further plans include a new 100-person classroom for fall 2008.
"The addition will provide expanded opportunities for faculty to conduct their research and unique spaces for our programs to interact with the business community," Amos-Landgraf said.
Additional amenities in the new wing of the building will include a new dining facility on the first floor with food provided by the Wisconsin Union.
"If the allure of moving to a great town like Madison doesn't hook a prospective faculty member, maybe this facility will help tip the scales in our favor," Amos-Landgraf said.
In the Lakeshore area, the Lot 34 reconstruction project was initiated to replace the existing worn-out asphalt surface of the parking lot.
Gary Brown, UW director of campus planning and landscape architecture, said the university decided to do a pilot project utilizing porous asphalt in the lot to help increase storm water infiltration and reduce erosive runoff toward Lake Mendota.
Brown said UW received a grant from the Department of Natural Resources to help fund porous paving design. Student interns have also been used in landscape architecture to help design the plantings around the storm water detention basin.
Currently, Brown said the project is in construction with an estimated completion date of early September, and will help make the campus more environmentally friendly.
Research facilities
Just across campus, students are beginning to use the new Microbial Sciences Building, which cost $121 million to complete.
Bacteriology Department Chair Glen Chambliss said the building combines a number of groups within a single building — including the bacteriology department, medical microbiology and immunology and a food pathogen research facility.
"Researchers are going to be interspersed," Chambliss said. "It will intermingle researchers to generate synergies and a cross-fertilization of ideas from different perspectives."
Chambliss said the building also includes conference rooms and a café, which will serve Seattle's Best Coffee.
In addition, Chambliss said there are three general assignment classrooms seating 200, 100 and 40 students as well as an interactive museum for people who come in off the street to learn about microbiology.
Chambliss said what is unique to this building is it provides undergraduates with the opportunity to conduct research much like professionals, because the building provides undergraduate labs for students to work on projects under the supervision of faculty members.
Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, serves as a member of the building commission for the Microbial Sciences Building.
"The positive implications go well beyond the university," Black said. "It will lead to major advances in health care and will be a very important part of Wisconsin's essential economy of good-paying jobs in the biological sciences."
Chambliss said the building has created a lot of interest within the scientific community, which hopefully will continue to provide funding through governmental agencies such as the National Institute of Health, as well as from private donors.
"This is already a famous building," Chambliss said. "A lot of interest exists in this building from people all over country who want to come look at it. If we can interest them in the building, we can interest them in the research that is going on and interest them in funding it."
Construction on the $134 million Interdisciplinary Research Complex for the UW School of Medicine and Public Health is also continuing.
The building is located between UW Hospital and Clinics and the Health Sciences Learning Center at 710 Highland Ave.
Mark Wells, assistant dean of facilities for the UW Medical School, said the topping out of the east tower marked the end of the major construction on phase one of the three-phase project.
"It brings the bench of basic scientists and the bedside of clinical trials together in one building where most clinical work occurs," Wells said.
The beauty of such a facility, Wells said, allows UW to compete with the best schools.
"The best schools are providing the best facilities to recruit the best researchers in the country and retain them as well," Wells said. "It is crucial for us to have the best facilities, not only in the country, but in the world."
John Huggett, project manager from Oscar J. Boldt Construction, said the first occupants would move into the east tower next April.
Wells added despite the success of the IRC project, the goal is to work into the next phase without stopping, hoping to eventually raise funds for phases two and three of the project.
"We would like to keep going," Wells said. "Finish phase one and go right into phase two."
Construction continues
Although much construction has occurred throughout this summer, the reality is orange cones and cranes will continue to be prevalent for most of UW students' undergraduate careers.
Fish said although construction projects seem messy, students should not look for the end, but instead understand the benefits they receive from constructional improvements.
"We need to constantly revitalize these buildings for a 21st century campus," Fish said. "UW is unique because it is the second largest receiver of public research grants throughout the country, and this type of construction helps keep us there."
Correction:Due to a reporting error, this article did not say State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, has not served as a member of the building commission for the Microbial Sciences Building since 2002. We regret the error.
