On April 5-7, UW-Madison students will have the opportunity to vote in the student referendum to upgrade, renovate and expand Wisconsin Union facilities. Wednesday night, Wisconsin Union Directorate members hosted an open forum and discussed the proposed future plans for Memorial Union and Union South.
UW-Madison junior and Vice President of the Wisconsin Union Directorate Ben Hawke said an overarching goal of the Union renovations is to \continue the movement to promote student organization growth.""
Hawke said the plans for Memorial Union include more meeting space for student organizations and more administration office space.
""Part of this comes from the fact that the Union annually turns away 1,000 or 1,500 reservations or more because it cannot provide the space,"" Hawke said.
Memorial Union's technology will also be updated, as Hawke said each meeting room will have media equipment readily available so organizations will not have to pay for or reserve this equipment.
According to Hawke, plans for Memorial Union also include the addition of a film theater and a 500-seat ballroom behind the Union Theater, similar to Great Hall and Tripp Commons.
Matt Brockdorf, UW-Madison senior and president of the Wisconsin Union Directorate, addressed plans for the renovations of Union South. He said updates of technology, accessibility and fire codes will be made.
""Additionally we're looking at expanding the recreational areas in Union South,"" Brockdorf said.
Other possibilities for Union South include the addition of a theatre, more lobbies and more study space.
Janell Wise, chair of the Student Services Finance Committee and UW-Madison junior, emphasized that through the student referendum, the student body will decide if they want to support this project.
If the referendum is passed, students will pay $3 per semester starting next year for the first two years and the payments will increase to $10 per semester for the next 12 years, Wise explained. This way, students who pay the most will be the ones who reap most of the benefits.
Open forums will continue to be held throughout the process.
""We really need to have discussion about if this is a project we value,"" Wise said.
""We really do need and want student feedback through every phase of this,"" Brockdorf said.
The next open forum will be March 31 in the Red Gym.
