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Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 9/26/07 |
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In
the News Archive - Year:
March 16, 2005 UWGB union expansion moves forward Building plans going to state agency By Cynthia Hodnett
Those plans are gaining some momentum as the university prepares to send the plan to the state's Department of Facilities Development to be bid on by architects within the next three months.
More space for dining, relocating the Phoenix Book Store and UW Credit Union, which are at the David Cofrin Library, to the union are part of the expansion plans. Other plans include relocating the information desk that is in the lower level of the union to the front entrance.
Construction is expected to begin by late 2006 and be finished by January 2008. The union will remain open during construction, university officials said.
"In our current building, we're maxed out capacity-wise as far as available space and choices in furnishings that we can provide," said Rick Warpinski, UW-Green Bay University Union director. "What we're trying to do with this project is to make more comfortable seating areas, places for students to study, hang out and relax."
The decision to proceed with the expansion plans was reaffirmed by students who gave their opinions about the project during a Feb. 21 information and voting session, said Tracy Kranzusch, a junior, English major and University Union Board chairwoman.
Of the 131 students who voted:
• 80 agreed the project should move forward.
• 45 agreed that the student segregated fee should be raised to increase the expansion project's budget to $8.5 million.
• 25 agreed no action should be taken on the project.
"It's something that most students want and are willing to pay for," Kranzusch said. "We wanted to have it (the information and voting session) as soon as we could to let students know what's going on."
Mitch Bruckert, a junior biology major and campus climate director at the UWGB, voted in favor of the plan. While the current University Union design provides a welcoming atmosphere for students, it could use some improvement, Bruckert said.
"They've been talking about putting the book store and credit union in there, which is a good idea," he said. "It would make life 80,000 times better for me, because I wouldn't have to go across campus."
In 2003, UWGB received approval from the Building Commission to complete a $6 million expansion and renovation of the union.
However, UWGB students, university administration and state officials couldn't agree on the project's cost and what should be included in the expansion, Kranzusch said.
Meanwhile, construction costs increased, pushing costs of the original plan up to $8 million. To stay at or under the $6 million budget, changes were made to the plan, including completing some of the original project with funding from the union's current operating budget. Those changes include converting the existing Timber Lounge into a coffee house this summer.
Students already have paid $3.9 million in segregated fees to fund the union expansion project. Segregated fees cover a host of campus operations.
In 2000, the university's Student Government Association agreed that segregated fees should increase by $400 over a four-year period to raise the $3.9 million. Segregated fees collected in the future will be used to pay off the remaining cost of the union. No tax dollars will be used, Warpinski said.
The union expansion project was a part of the Campus Life for the 21st Century project introduced at the university in 1999. Besides expanding the union, the 21st Century project also called for expanding the Phoenix Sports Center. Expansion plans for both buildings are now separate projects.
Amy Johnson, a sophomore and education major who works in the Office of Student Life in the lower level of the union, voted for the option to raise student segregated fees to expand the project's budget.
"Moving the bookstore isn't high on my priority list, but it would be nice to have it there too," Johnson said. "I think moving the information desk near the front is a good idea and so is having more space for the students. It would make it feel more open and welcoming to students."
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