As the Memorial Union approaches its 75th anniversary with space limitations and structural faults, Wisconsin Union officials are developing a master plan for both Union buildings that may include major renovations or construction projects.
Commissioning a master plan was one of first acts of Wisconsin Union Director Mark Guthier, who began his post last year, said Rob Staude, UW-Madison senior and chair of the Wisconsin Union Directorate.
Space for student organization meetings at both Memorial Union and Union South is tight, in part because Memorial Union was built for a student population of 6,000, said Margaret Tennessen, the Union's assistant director for marketing and external relations. Enrollment at UW-Madison now tops 40,000.
\As we first started planning for the anniversary we certainly wanted to celebrate our past achievements, but we also want to plan for the future,"" Tennessen said.
Union administrators arranged a series of focus groups for students, staff, faculty and administrators to discover what visitors loved about the unions and what they wanted changed, Staude said.
Cliff Goodhart, project manager for Strang Inc., one of three architectural firms working to create the master plan, said a common response ran through the focus groups.
""The most consistent thing we heard was that things like the Rathskeller should not change,"" Goodhart said. ""The Terrace, the Great Hall and some of the spaces that make the Union special should be preserved.""
But Goodhart said several focus group participants wanted changes to be made to the entrance of Memorial Union, the link between the Union and the Terrace and ""the anonymous aesthetics of Union South.""
Staude said Union South could be renovated to become a high tech facility because of its proximity to the Engineering and Computer Science buildings. It could also be redesigned to stress a link to Camp Randall.
When asked if the master plan could include the construction of another building, Tennessen said Union administrators haven't ruled anything out.
The Wisconsin Union is funded by restaurant and retail revenue, individual donations and student segregated fees, Tennessen said.
The Unions fail to meet several building codes, Goodhart said, and any construction work would also include renovations to external surfaces and building systems. Construction is also needed to make Memorial Union handicap accessible.
Staude said the Union hopes to have the master plan completed by next fall's 75th anniversary of Memorial Union, in part to make a pitch to donors. He said he didn't know when any construction would start and that the project could last several years.
Tennessen said she encouraged students who wished to make recommendations to the master plan to e-mail their input to .
