Demolished campus buildings, new residence halls and a reconstructed University Square are only some of the major alterations UW-Madison will undergo over the next several years, Facilities, Planning and Management Director Alan Fish disclosed Thursday.
The several-hundred-million-dollar plan includes razing the George L. Mosse Humanities Building, Ogg Residence Halls, the Peterson Office Building and the UW-Extension Building and renovating the Elvehjem Museum of Art and Grainger Hall.
These large-scale changes are part of Chancellor John Wiley's vision to reconstruct the university by 2019.
\It's been [Wiley's] dream to improve the facilities for the arts and humanities and while we're at it, really take care of this collection of very pathetic and ... maintenance plagued buildings,"" said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.
Specifically, the Humanities Building would be torn down and split into two aesthetically pleasing and more functional buildings while Grainger Hall would expand onto the lot currently occupied by the McBurney Center. Fish said the decrepit Peterson Building needs demolishing because of constant flooding and other problems including ""falling mice from the ceiling.""
With the reconstruction of University Square and Gordon Commons, an area of open green space would be added from Regent Street to Lake Mendota. Additionally, the plan includes overpasses connecting the area to high-use spaces like Memorial Library, Memorial Union, student housing and the Kohl Center.
At the expense of such new buildings, Brothers bar, 704 University Ave., may face demolition along with student houses along Dayton and Park streets.
The $150 million University Square project would receive half of its funding from program revenue. The other half will be shared by private owners and state taxpayers.
Fish said Wiley hopes to generate $58 million in gifts to contribute to the $67.9 million Elvehjem and School of Music renovations.
The goal for housing is to accommodate more UW-Madison freshmen and sophomores and offer more living space. In adding a new hall to University Square, Gordon Commons and the corner of Regent and Murray streets, approximately 1,550 beds would be added.
However, with the demolition of Ogg Residence Hall the net gain in residents would be approximately 600, Fish said.
Because the new housing would guarantee rooms for freshmen, offering larger rooms and suites in which two bedrooms share a bathroom, private residence hall Owner Steve Brown thinks this may detract from private halls, Verveer said.
""He thinks that this is going to lead to depressed student housing market,"" Verveer said.
However, UW-Madison freshman Chris Corbeilli said he thought new housing is necessary when considering his current residence, Ogg hall, where ""elevators break down almost every day.\
