Memorial Union Reinvestment Project Coordinators will present preliminary floor plans and design ideas at an open forum Monday, where the public can attend and give input, according to a university news release.
The Memorial Union Reinvestment Project was made possible by students through a referendum initiative passed in 2006. The objective of the referendum was to preserve the value of the Memorial Union while upgrading and refurbishing the nearly 80-year-old building and constructing a new Union South, according to the project’s website.
The forum was planned as a way to get feedback from the public and campus community about design ideas after preliminary objectives were established but before any important decisions were made.
“These are all ideas and not set concepts, so we welcome any comments or reactions,” Katie Cary, MUR student project manager, said in the news release.
At the forum, architects will make presentations and answer questions. The MUR committee will then use the information they receive to help guide further planning with the design team.
Architects will use the feedback to make a final design proposal, which the union’s Design Committee, a 15-member shared governance body with a student majority, will evaluate. The Design Committee will then make suggestions to the Union Council, which will approve the final design plans.
The architects will also submit the plans to the Board of Regents, the campus Design Review Board, Joint Southeast Campus Committee, the Wisconsin Historical Society and the State Building Commission for review.
The union anticipates reaching approval from all of these entities in early spring of 2014, according to the news release.
The initial MUR phase, which includes renovations to the west wing area that houses Hoofers and the Union Theater, is scheduled to be completed in fall 2014.
The forum will be held at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union.
