‘Mini conference’ on Wisconsin Union Initiative set for Feb. 25

The Wisconsin Union announces a “mini conference” to formally kick off the start of the Wisconsin Union Initiative, a project to build a new “green” south campus union and restore and upgrade Memorial Union.

Students, faculty, staff, Union members and the community are invited to attend any part of the free event.

The conference will be held from 2–9:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 25, in Memorial Union (check Today in the Union for rooms).

The conference will begin with a project overview featuring members of the architecture team that was selected in December after a national search. At 3 and 7 p.m. there will be opportunities for the audience to voice their opinions in breakout sessions on various topics including services, programming, design, Hoofers, food, outdoor spaces and much more, as well as sign up to help in the process or to receive regular reports.

For a full schedule and background information on the project, visit http://www.newunion.wisc.edu.

Several workshops are also planned throughout the spring semester to obtain input from various constituents and stakeholders in these and other aspects.

The conference will also feature two related presentations: “Winter Cities and Active, Vibrant Outdoor Spaces” by Jay Walljasper, senior fellow with the Project for Public Spaces and editor of Ode magazine; and “Back to the Future” by Garry Golden, a professionally trained futurist who will discuss the possibility of combining future trends with the Wisconsin Idea to design and build the best possible new Union.

For questions or comments about the project, e-mail unionbuildingproject@gmail.com.