Associated Students of Madison’s Shared Governance Committee listened to University of Wisconsin’s Recreational Sports presentation on its master plan to update recreational facilities on campus.
More than 35,000 students use UW’s recreational facilities on average per year — approximately 6,000 per day. UW Rec Sports Director John Horn said the new facilities would provide much more space for students interested in using them.
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Rec Sports has done a good job providing students with programs and classes to take, but UW has not done an adequate job providing students with facilities, Horn said.
“We have failed miserably over the years for providing our students with facilities,” Horn said.
Right now, Rec Sports is on track to break ground on Near West Fields over the summer. The plan is to have them completed by fall 2016, Horn said. The new fields will be expanded for students outside of Rec Sports intramural teams to use.
After the fields, the next phase of the master plan is to completely demolish the SERF the following summer. Horn said it will provide some difficulty for students who like to use the Southeast facility, but UW Housing and UW Dining have committed to temporarily storing the SERF’s equipment so students may still access it.
Rec Sports has been working to create a plan that will allow extended hours at facilities not under construction to make up for lost access to facilities when they are under construction, Horn said.
The new designs for the Serf and Natatorium will provide more space for students to workout and meet up with friends, Horn said. The new designs will also include more Wisconsin decor, so student facilities are more representative of the university’s culture.
“We love our students and are committed to student development,” Horn said.
