The Joint Southeast Campus Area Committee met Monday to give updates on developments of a campus research building, renovation of the education building and a status report on the Charter Street Heating Plant.
George Austin, project manager for the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and Morgridge Institute for Research, presented construction plans for the new multi-discipline biomedical research building set to be completed by 2010 on the 1300 block of University Avenue.
The idea is to create a place for [researchers] to collaborate,"" he said. ""It's not the home to any department.""
The terracotta and beige building will also be accessible for students and will allow easy traffic flow with doorways at all four corners. Austin stressed the flexibility of the research facility that would be easily adaptive with future scientific advancements.
Planners also announced renovations to make the education building more accessible.
Angela Pakes-Ahlman, UW-Madison architect and engineering manager, said the proposed changes would ""create a new heart for the building.""
The plans include the addition of an east wing, courtyard and expansion of the current parking lot to an underground garage.
""[It will] make this a safe place for them to travel,"" said Pakes-Ahlman regarding commuters. ""No longer will students be playing frogger in the parking lot.""
Building plans also include space for an eatery and coffee bar to increase student traffic. The estimated date of demolition is January 2009, with a scheduled project timeline of 18 months.
In addition, the committee discussed updates to the Charter Street Heating Plant.
Alan Fish, associate vice chancellor for facilities at UW-Madison, said the Charter Street plant, which has been under recent scrutiny for its fuel emissions, plans to engage in more energy conservation and reduce coal use 15 percent by January.
""We cannot close the Charter Street Plant,"" Fish said. ""We need to heat and cool the campus."" As a substitute, Fish said the plant intends to partially use natural gas, though he said the goal is not to become ""totally dependent"" on the method.
