The East Campus Gateway will make the University’s front door more accessible and more beautiful. It will showcase why the UW-Madison was, is and always will be a great place to learn, to live, and to enjoy. Copyright © 2005 Anderson Illustration Associates, Inc.
A century after it was first proposed, the East Campus Gateway is the front door of the UW-Madison campus. It is a place of first impressions and lasting memories. In 2008, the University committed to beautifying while preserving this iconic area of campus. Thanks to a partnership between the state of Wisconsin, the University, the Wisconsin Alumni Association and generous donors, this phase of the East Campus Gateway is nearing completion. The campus and community are already using and enjoying:
- University Square: student services, retail, residential and commercial space in a modern high-rise
- Expanded Chazen Museum of Art: double the size of the existing museum and opened to the public in October, 2011
- Art Department: the Art Lofts create a united home for instructional labs, studios and administration in renovated warehouse space
- Pedestrian mall: the attractive, accessible promenade that links the Lake Mendota shore and Memorial Union all the way to the Kohl Center and Regent Street
Four Projects
These projects offer transformational opportunities for private support that will bring new vitality to this vibrant center for performing, creating, learning and living on campus.
- Memorial Union Reinvestment
Constructed in 1928, Memorial Union has served as the “living room of campus” for over 75 years. The building has never seen a comprehensive renovation, and years of programming, meetings and performances have left the structure in need of significant restoration and upgrades. Students, staff and community members have worked tirelessly to ensure that the Memorial Union Reinvestment project takes into consideration every detail—from environmental sustainability to accessibility—as it moves forward. These improvements to student programming spaces and vital infrastructure will ensure that this special place remains central in the hearts and minds of the campus community for many years to come.
- Alumni Park
Alumni Park will create a promenade that unites the University’s most popular gathering places—the shore of Lake Mendota and Library Mall—in the corridor that runs between the Below Alumni Center, the Red Gym and the Memorial Union, from Lake Mendota to Langdon Street. Alumni Park will transform prime campus real estate from a poorly utilized parking lot and loading dock into welcoming green space.
- Hamel Music Center
The School of Music has acquired land and prepared preliminary plans to construct a building that will welcome music lovers to concerts and train future generations of performers, researchers and educators.
- Tandem Press
The Tandem Press is an artistic laboratory where internationally recognized artists, Tandem’s master printers and UW-Madison students undertake creative exploration and experimentation. It is one of only three professional fine art presses affiliated with a university in the country.
In the summer of 2013, the Tandem Press moved to a temporary facility at 1743 Commercial Ave. It’s scheduled to be a three-year layover before the Tandem Press will move into a new, on-campus facility within the East Campus Gateway arts district. The new building will be located adjacent to the Art Lofts building at 630 W. Mifflin St.
