Regents, state endorse Thai pavilion

The only Thai pavilion of its kind in the United States will be constructed at UW–Madison this fall, thanks to a gift from Thailand.

The 40-foot by 22-foot wood pavilion is being given to the university as a gesture of thanks from Thailand for educating numerous Thai students, according to campus planning officials. There are only two other Thai pavilions in the world located outside Thailand: in Germany and Norway.

The Thai Alumni Association, one of the university’s largest international alumni groups, is responsible for the gift, which required approval from the King of Thailand. The structure will be built in Thailand before being disassembled and shipped to UW–Madison. Thai craftspeople will reconstruct the pavilion between Lake Mendota and the Natatorium.

The Board of Regents and the State Building Commission earlier this month approved $457,000 to build the structure’s foundation. Groundbreaking is slated for this spring, and a member from the Thai royal family may attend.

“The pavilion will provide Thai students with a significant symbol of their homeland,” explains a summary of the proposal.

The UW System Board of Regents and the State Building Commission earlier this month also approved several UW–Madison construction funding requests:

• $2 million for the Biochemistry Building’s 1985 Wing Renovation for X-Ray Crystallography project and $400,000 to upgrade a Biochemistry Building lecture hall and security system.
• $3 million to extend campus utilities for the new Engineering Centers facility and future development in the area.
• $300,000 in additional funding for maintenance and renovation at Barnard, Bradley and Chadbourne halls, for a total project cost of $3.9 million.

A request for $750,000 to renovate Memorial Library Room 124 was approved by the regents this month and will come before the building commission in April.