Master plan to create a vision of UW-Madison’s future

An uncommon opportunity to define UW–Madison for years to come arrived this week, with the announcement of a yearlong process to create a master plan to guide campus renewal well into the next decade.

“This moment allows us to use our imaginations to envision a campus that is more workable, more livable and more sustainable – and one that will carry our teaching, research and service mission into the future,” says Chancellor John D. Wiley.

The campus’s last master plan was completed in 1996, and more than 80 percent of it has been implemented or is in the design-and-construction phase. The latest effort will closely examine existing and proposed buildings, outdoor spaces, transportation and utilities to create a road map for future improvements.

Wiley says the university’s plan will provide a strategy for renewal on campus.

“We want a campus that is more functional – one that balances the needs of teachers and students, of drivers and pedestrians, of needed redevelopment and inviting open spaces,” Wiley says. “We want a campus that responsibly marshals its resources by planning intelligently for its future needs.”

Gary Brown, director of the Office of Planning and Landscape Architecture at UW–Madison’s Facilities Planning and Management, says the challenge will be to reinvent the campus in place.

“We’re surrounded by urban development and residential neighborhoods, so we have to be creative and find ways to renovate existing buildings or remove buildings that have outlived their usefulness to make room for new development or open spaces,” Brown says.

The state has selected and contracted the Baltimore architectural firm of Ayers Saint Gross, which is nationally known for its work on campus master plans, to help create the plan. ASG has created plans at schools such as the University of North Carolina, Arizona State University, the University of Virginia, the University of Georgia and Johns Hopkins University.

The consultants working on the university’s plan will solicit ideas from faculty, staff and students, as well as the Madison community in coming weeks.

A noontime brown-bag lunch session will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 12, in the On Wisconsin Room of the Red Gym, 716 Langdon St. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to bring their lunches and offer their insights into the planning process. Later that same day, from 5-7 p.m., the university will hold a similar presentation and open public forum in Room 132 of the WARF Building, 610 Walnut St. Light refreshments will be served at both events.

In addition, the university has established a Web site at to explain the process and encourage feedback from people with ideas about how the campus should look and function in years to come.

Brown says the university’s planning process will assess the campus’s physical environment, transportation needs and how open spaces help define the campus. University planners also want to determine whether there should be a consistent look to the architecture in different areas of the campus.

“Future improvements need to be governed by balance and our respect for our spectacular natural setting and our cultural resources,” Brown says. “Beauty and function can go hand-in-hand. Some areas of the campus are very well done, but we have to assure future developments on campus create a more cohesive environment for our faculty, staff and students.”

Because of the broad scope of the plan, its elements would be implemented during a period of years. A draft of the plan is expected to be ready in March 2005, with a final product expected in September 2005.