More construction planned for spring

In the next few months, several campus construction projects will join the array of high-profile building ventures that are under way.

These include the Genetics-Biotechnology Building addition, 425 Henry Mall; renovation of Camp Randall Stadium, 1440 Monroe St.; renovation of Chamberlin Hall, 1150 University Ave.; a new Crew House at the end of Babcock Drive on Lake Mendota; a new Health Sciences Learning Center, 750 Highland Ave.; renovation of the Memorial Union Lakefront Cafeteria, 800 Langdon St.; an addition to Weeks Hall geology building, 1215 W. Dayton St.; and the new West Campus Cogeneration Facility, 600 Walnut St.

Gary Brown, assistant director for planning for Facilities Planning and Management, says a number of additional projects were in their final planning stages during the fall semester and are expected to break ground soon. They include:

Water Supply Line, Temin Lakeshore Path
A water supply line is being installed along the Howard Temin Lakeshore Path between Charter Street and Willow Creek. The supply line will provide cooling water from Lake Mendota to the under-construction West Campus Cogeneration Facility.

The project will close parts of the path from the Limnology Lab to Willow Creek until June. Sections of the supply line near the lakeshore residence halls and points east will be completed first to allow those sections of the path to open in the spring.

Lot 76 Parking Ramp, University Bay Drive
The campus is planning a 1,285-car parking ramp east of Nielsen Tennis Stadium on existing parking Lot 76 to accommodate the increased need for parking following construction of the Waisman Center addition, Rennebohm Pharmacy Building, Health Sciences Learning Center, expansions at UW Hospital, and anticipated new facilities for the Children’s Hospital, Interdisciplinary Research Complex and the School of Nursing. The university expects to begin construction sometime in June.

Mechanical Engineering Building, 1513 University Ave.
The project includes demolishing the 1921 “sawtooth” building and replacing it with an addition, which will include a basement, three occupied floors, a mezzanine and a mechanical penthouse. The project also includes the renovation of mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems within the existing building. Demolition will likely occur sometime in late January. Construction should get under way in May and continue until fall 2005, at which time renovation of the existing building is scheduled to begin.

Microbial Sciences Building, Babcock and Linden drives
This project, the second of the Biostar Initiative, will begin in November after the demolition of E.B. Fred Hall, anticipated in May. The first floor of the new building will house administrative offices, a symposium center and classrooms. The second floor will provide space for teaching laboratories, break-out rooms and instructors’ offices. Upper floors will house research laboratories, lab support and research offices. The basement level will house a vivarium, mechanical spaces and a parking garage. Construction is scheduled for completion in early 2007.

UW Hospital, 600 Highland Ave.
Two projects — an expansion of the Emergency Department and the relocation of the Med-Flight helipad — are in the planning stages and expected to begin this year. The Emergency Room, which was designed more than 25 years ago, is undersized. Expansion should begin by fall.

UW Hospital plans to expand and relocate its Emergency Department to handle the demand. The Med-Flight helipad, now on the west end of the emergency entrance, will be relocated to the hospital’s roof, allowing for easier landing and takeoff. That project should begin this spring.

UW Hospital is in the early planning stages of the new American Family Children’s Hospital, to be located west of the existing Clinical Sciences Center.

Walnut Street Greenhouses
This project will replace existing high-maintenance, inefficient and inadequate research greenhouses constructed more than 45 years ago with new, energy-efficient, state-of-the-art facilities capable of supporting modern research efforts. The work will include demolition of 31 wood-framed greenhouses and construction of 32 aluminum-framed research greenhouses. The project is expected to get underway in March and be completed by summer 2005.