As incoming and prospective freshmen tour UW-Madison, one big question comes to mind: Where will we sleep and eat?
Beginning in the summer of 2012, tour guides can proudly show off the new Lakeshore Residence Hall and Gordon Dining and Event Center, which will give students an improved living and dining experience on campus.
According to Director of Marketing and Communications at UW-Madison Division of University Housing Brendon Dybdahl, the university is building the new Lakeshore Residence Hall to address a shortage of resident space in housing. Dybdahl said UW-Madison is the only Big Ten School that does not guarantee housing for first year students, an issue he hopes the new hall will solve.
The residence hall will have a cluster room arrangement, similar to the arrangement in recently constructed Ogg and Smith Residence Halls. In this cluster arrangement, five rooms will share one bathroom. There will be 51 rooms and 11 bathrooms on each floor.
The Lakeshore Residence hall will offer an in-hall dining service with its own marketplace-style dining venue. Residents will enjoy a kitchen on each floor, an outdoor terrace facing Lake Mendota and nearby new tennis courts.
The new Gordon facility will provide more flexibility in meeting new trends in food service, dining and food preparation, Dybdahl said. The facility will accomplish this by offering 13 different menus, similar to Rheta's in Chadbourne Hall, which Dybdahl said provides residents with more choice and variety in dining.
The new multistory building will also include large program spaces that will cater to student programs and summer conference guests.
Revenue generated by university room and board fees, dining facilities and summer programs will pay for the combined $81.7 million construction projects. According to Dybdahl, the university did not receive any taxpayer money for the facilities.
Dybdahl said both projects should be finished in 2012 as expected, in a price range similar to original estimates.
UW-Madison is also working to improve current housing facilities, including Sellery and Witte Hall by expanding and renovating common areas and lobby spaces.
Although the current improvements are mostly cosmetic, a larger renovation of Witte Hall set to take place in 2016-17 will expand and renovate the central building core, first floor and basement areas.
These improvements will accommodate new elevators and improve common space and bathrooms, Dybdahl said.
Renovation will also include an upgraded heating and air conditioning system, which will allow
residents to control heat and air conditioning in each room.
Major renovation in Sellery Hall is set for 2018-19. Similar to Witte Hall, the project will include renovation of its central building core, first floor, basement and HVAC system.
