Several UW-Madison campus building construction projects are underway as the new year commences and will eventually provide numerous benefits for UW-Madison students and faculty.
According to Alan Fish, associate chancellor for facilities planning and management, the recently completed Student Services Tower is strategically located in the East Campus Mall along with Lucky apartments and various retail venues in an effort to provide convenient service for students.
It's sort of like a one-stop shopping experience for students,"" he said.
Sarah Van Orman, executive director of University Health Services, said the building has provided UHS with a state-of-the-art facility, allowing it to provide more effective health-care service.
""We feel very fortunate to be able to provide care to students in such a beautiful facility,"" she said.
According to Dan Cornelius, vice president for project management, there will be a transitional facility in the old UHS building to provide students with similar services as provided by the current Union South.
He said the demolition process of Union South is currently on schedule and should be underway in February.
""Our time frame is very aggressive, as is the innovative building design,"" he said. ""So we are really pushing our architects and project team to keep pace with our established timeline.""
The building under construction at the corner of University Avenue and Randall Avenue will house the publicly funded Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and the privately funded Morgridge Institute for Research.
According to John Wiley, interim director of WID, the two institutes will consist mainly of laboratory science research intended to benefit human health.
Wiley said the building is expected to be completed in 2010 and is projected to eventually benefit fields such as the arts, humanities and social sciences.
""All of this adds up to a transformational effect on the campus that we hope and expect will enable UW-Madison to continue to be one of the premier research leaders in the world,"" he said.
According to George Austin, WID and MIR building project manager, the building will have a unique cooling and heating system known as a geothermal system. The system involves the drilling of 75 boreholes 300 feet beneath the site.
""Each bore serves as a 'heat exchanger' to allow the transfer of heat to or from the earth when cooling or heating the building, respectively,"" he said.
Austin said UW-Madison's location is ideal for a geothermal cooling and heating system because it is located between two lakes.
The drilling will be completed before the end of 2009 and is expected to save the institution 10 percent annually on energy costs.
The current campus construction projects are all part of a larger vision known as the Campus Master Plan, which was outlined by Wiley in 2005 during his time as chancellor. The drafting of the plan offered students and faculty a guide to the development of top-notch teaching, research and student-service facilities to be developed over 20 years.
""[The plan] is a document outlining the future development of the entire campus physical infrastructure,"" Wiley said.
