Education Building plans finalized; Art Lofts work underway

Monday, March 31, 2008 -

With work on one building project underway and construction set to begin early next year on another, the UW–Madison School of Education faces some exciting changes on the horizon.

The basic design and floor plans for the Education Building Renovation/Addition Project were finalized early this year. The architectural/engineering firm Hammel, Green and Abrahamson (HGA) and representatives from the state, campus, and School of Education have been working through the details of the project.

The letting of bids for construction is expected by late summer, with work to begin in January 2009.

Meanwhile, the physical transformation of the university warehouse next to the Kohl Center into the Art Lofts has started, with completion expected by the end of the year. By early 2009, all Art Department programs — once scattered across campus — will be housed in the Art Lofts and the top two floors of the Humanities Building.

The Art Lofts will include facilities for ceramics and papermaking, 15 faculty and 37 graduate student studios, and accessible space for the public display of art.  Milwaukee-based HGA has designed the metal structure to bring in more natural light.

The building has housed the Art Department’s glass lab and metal sculpture foundry since 2004.

UW–Madison Chancellor John Wiley, Education Dean Julie Underwood, Art Department faculty, and others connected to the project gathered in late February at the site to celebrate the start of construction, which had already commenced.

The Art Lofts is the first of a three-phase initiative to bring the entire Art Department together at one site, Dean Underwood says.

The second phase consists of renovating the final section of the warehouse and constructing additional space for Tandem Press, the internationally known fine-art printmaking studio affiliated with the Art Department.  Tandem currently occupies rented space in a state-owned building three miles from campus. Efforts already are underway to raise private gifts for this project.

The final phase will be construction of an Art Building, next to the Art Lofts, to house the programs in Humanities, which has been marked for demolition in the East Campus Plan.

At the Art Lofts event, Chancellor Wiley described the Art Lofts and future Art Building on one end and Memorial Union on the other as the anchors of the East Campus Gateway — basically, UW–Madison’s arts district accessible both to the campus community and general public.

Plans for the Education Building Renovation/Addition Project, meanwhile, involve cleaning up the original exterior of the century-old structure, facing Bascom Hill, and adding an east wing and spacious central commons on the north side, facing Observatory Drive and Lake Mendota.

The project — made possible by a generous gift from UW alumni Tashia and John Morgridge — aims to restore historical elements — including the fine woodwork of the original lobby — and reconfigure the building to serve the School’s mission into the future.

The commons area will include a coffee shop and a spectacular view of Lake Mendota.  Modern classrooms and student services will be conveniently clustered in the lower levels of the building, with departmental offices and meeting spaces on the upper levels.

From the outside, the change will be most dramatic on the side facing Observatory Drive, which will feature a landscaped plaza atop underground parking.

Once completed, the Education Building will house:

• The Dean’s Office (including Business Services and External Relations)
• Student services (Educational Academic Services, Educational Portfolios and Career Services, and Minority Student Services)
• The Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education (WISCAPE).
• Four of the School’s eight academic departments (Counseling Psychology, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, Educational Policy Studies, and Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education).

 All of these units except ELPA and RPSE currently occupy space in the Education Building. The process of relocating the current occupants to temporary spaces to clear the building for construction already is underway.  Here are the scheduled relocations:

• Education Outreach and Distance Education, to move in May from Lathrop Hall to Educational Sciences and Teacher Education Buildings, respectively.
• Educational Portfolios and Career Services (EPCS) to move in June to Educational Sciences. 
• Dean’s Office, including Business Services and External Relations, and Minority Student Services to move in July to Lathrop Hall. 
• Informational Technology to move in July to Educational Sciences and Teacher Education Building. 
• Education Academic Services (EAS) and the two academic departments — Counseling Psychology and Educational Policy Studies — will remain in the Education Building through the fall 2008 semester, then move to Rust/Schreiner Hall on Orchard Street over the semester break. 

 Also, the Art Department will use space in the Education Building during the fall 2008 semester while awaiting completion of the Art Lofts.

“With all the moving, the coming months will be challenging for everyone in the School of Education, but knowing that this is leading up to new state-of-the-art homes for the School and the Art Department far outweighs any short-term inconvenience,” says Dean Underwood.

-- by Kerry G. Hill

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