A heated debate ensued during a Joint Southeast Campus Area Committee meeting Monday night, as UW-Madison officials outlined their future plans for the public dorm system.
The tentative preparations include tearing down Ogg Residence Hall and building three new dormitories located on Park Street, West Dayton Street and in the location of University Square. The proposed dorm on Park Street is planned to open in fall 2006, West Dayton Street in fall 2007, and University Square would open its doors in fall 2008, according to Paul Evans, director of University Housing.
While plans for each new building have already been thought up, consent is not unanimous. Steve Brown, owner of Steve Brown Apartments and the private residence halls, was a harsh critic of the development of new dormitories. Brown claimed the construction would cost students a significant amount of money, damage public confidence in the university and said the university did not conduct adequate research.
Brown also called into question the extent of student support for the new housing units, saying students wishing to live in the new dormitories would be forced to pay a substantial amount more than current residents of the dorms.
\Somebody's paying for it, and it has to be the students,"" he said. ""The [cost] goes up 50 percent.""
Evans fired back, citing a cost-benefit analysis that showed it would be better for the university and the students to tear down Ogg. Over the past several years, more than $13 million has been spent renovating various residence halls, according to Evans, and refurbishing Ogg would only add to the cost.
Evans also emphasized the need for more public student housing, mentioning there are already 796 students on the waiting list for next fall, and the public dorms are overbooked, with 1,480 more contracts signed than beds available.
While Brown claimed there would be a sharp increase in housing costs, Evans retaliated by showing the estimated housing costs for the new halls would be approximately $5,000. This is comparable in his opinion to the current rates.
