City officials could choose from one of three plans to redesign Library Mall and State Street in the next six weeks, Ald. Scott Resnick, District 4, said at a Joint Southeast Campus Area Committee meeting Monday.
City planners previously proposed two potential designs for the 700 and 800 blocks of State Street and Library Mall. One of the proposals features an asymmetrical oval surrounding the current fountain on Library Mall, and the other plan, which is called “The Great Lawn” would create an open square green space on the mall.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison does not have plans in its 2014 budget to reconstruct Library Mall, according to city Principal Planner Bill Fruhling.
Fruhling said the city is considering an alternative to the previously proposed plans. In the alternative plan, the city would move forward with construction on the 700 and 800 blocks of State Street without a plan for the Library Mall area, which city planners would leave for the university to decide on in the future.
The alternative plan would allow the option of a “historical restoration” of the Library Mall space, which would seek to clean up and restore the mall instead of reconstruct it, according to Resnick.
In each of the three plans, the 700 and 800 blocks would remain very similar, Fruhling said, but the alternative plan would include a raised platform, which could include the clock tower or a sculptural element at the start of Library Mall.
The city is also moving forward with plans for functional elements of the space including lighting, bike parking and seating, according to Fruhling.
He said they want to design the space to prevent crime, so they have focused on making the area open and well-lit.
Resnick said he is excited to try to expand the time students use the State Street and Library Mall areas with the improved lighting.
“I think the nighttime movement is what I am most excited about,” Resnick said.
Fruhling said the State Street Redesign Committee will hold another public information meeting regarding the State Street redesign plans sometime in the next few months, but city planners have not set a date for the meeting yet.
