The Wisconsin Union - Preserving the past, building the future

T

he Union is the legacy of students, faculty and Union members past and present.

Together, we need to ensure that the memories and experiences of the Union are a reality for all students who are fortunate enough to attend the University of Wisconsin. Think of how different your experience would have been without the activities, community and leadership opportunities the Union provided.

Costs are different now than they were in 1928 when students donated an average of $50 each to help construct the Memorial Union, the equivalent of $600 today. The 2006 referendum campaign was in this spirit and of the $167 million total cost of the Union project, $97 million, or nearly 60%, will be provided with student funds.

The Union receives no tax dollars—all funds needed for the Union project must come from students, alumni, and friends. Just as the Union welcomes a large variety of guests and members every day, we must appeal to a large network of people within and outside the University community for funds.

We hope you will help.

Please keep our legacy of exceptional student leadership, social education and fond memories alive. To make a gift to the Campaign for the Wisconsin Union, please contact:

Glenda Noel-Ney Director of Development Wisconsin Union • 800 Langdon St. • Madison, WI 53706 608-262-2687 • noelney@wisc.edu

Photos courtesy of the Wisconsin Union and the University of Wisconsin-Madison

DID YOU KNOW Your contribution will help us continue to be the heart and soul of this great University.

Rendering For The New South Campus Union

“The culture was changing so much that every month felt like a different year…There was a sensibility among students that they could change the world. The student union was the cultural and political headquarters.”

– David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the Washington Post and Associate Trustee of the Memorial Union Building Association

T

he Memorial Union is an architectural gem, the heart and soul of our beautiful University of Wisconsin campus.

But you know it is so much more...

Memorial Union: The Wisconsin Union will maintain Memorial Union's iconic architecture, while preserving recent investments such as the Main Lounge restoration. This project will maintain Memorial Union's unique place in campus life for generations to come.

Plans include: • Providing state-of-the-art spaces for student programs and events.

• Increasing student meeting and activity space by repositioning a number of operations at a new south campus Union.

• Making the entrances to Memorial Union more inviting and crowd friendly to improve traffic flow throughout the building.

• Creating sustainable future operations using energy efficient systems.

• Upgrading systems and improving accessibility, including ADA compliance and installing additional elevators.

• Providing a new sprinkler system, asbestos removal, fix sagging ceilings and floors as well as improving and adding restrooms.

• Preserving and maintaining the rich history and tradition of the building.

New South Campus Union: The Wisconsin Union will expand operations on the growing south end of campus with a new Union on the site of Union South. Analysis has shown that it is as cost effective to rebuild as to renovate, and its “green” design will reduce energy costs.

Plans include: • Designing a 21st Century ‘green’ building, UWMadison’s first LEED rated student building.

• Creating a new, people-friendly, green space which serves as the gateway to the south side of campus.

• Offering a true home for orientation and visitors programs on campus, creating positive first impressions for guests, new students and their families.

• Hosting entertainment, recreation and food service, including a coffee house and climbing wall.

• Providing large event space for student dances, fairs, conferences and more, as well as a film center/auditorium with 350 seats.

• Establishing an enduring and engaging college union with its own identity in an evolving campus neighborhood.

THINK of how different your university experience would have been without the activities, community and leadership opportunities the Union provided.

A

fter 80 glorious years, your gem needs your help as we look to the future.

A crumbling foundation, outdated restrooms, antiquated plumbing and electrical wiring and a lack of handicap accessibility has made the renovation of the Union a must. And these improvements must be made while preserving the character and beauty we all cherish.

I

t’s summer nights spent on the Terrace, watching Lake Mendota and listening to music. It’s actively participating in campus life and enjoying student programs. It’s experiencing the outdoors on a Hoofer sailboat and appreciating the arts in the Union Galleries.

It’s sharing Babcock ice cream or perhaps a cold beer with old friends and new.

DID YOU KNOW that the Union is such a magnet for students and members of the community that it must turn away nearly 1300 requests for space annually?

I

t’s being transported by gifted actors, dancers and musicians in the Union Theater. Imagine Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in “Taming of the Shrew” or Ella Fitzgerald belting out jazz. How many count ourselves lucky enough to have heard Robert Frost or T.S. Eliot make their words come to life?

The Union is where we learned about democracy and our responsibilities to all people with visits from then Senator John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s where we came in protest and in celebration.

“My favorite memory of the Union is my first date with my husband to a concert in the Union Theater and an exhibit in the Art Gallery. To this day, our first stop on campus always is the Memorial Union.

We love the energy and enrichment we experience each time we enter the building.”

“Before I started hanging out on the Union Terrace during the summer, I don’t think I had ever stayed in one location long enough to actually watch the light change. But with a cheap paper pitcher of beer and an endless stream of friends and acquaintances passing through...I learned the art of being still. Also, I learned to love pretzel rods.”

– Lucy Lloyd Class of 1969

– Ben Karlin, Class of 1993 President-Super Ego Industries and television writer and producer

“Where is the best place to sit outside, buy a drink and contemplate the meaning of life?

The presumptive favorite, with history and much else on its side, is the Memorial Union Terrace. Some feel the Union Terrace is the very heart of Madison.”

– Doug Moe, Columnist and Author

“The world we live in is constantly changing but the values students embrace here are still very similar. By the same token, our Unions may change throughout the years but the UW-Madison will always embody unity, learning, and friendship.”

– Jeff Rolling Wisconsin Union President 2008-2009

THINK of how different your university experience would have been without the activities, community and leadership opportunities the Union provided.

A

fter 80 glorious years, your gem needs your help as we look to the future.

A crumbling foundation, outdated restrooms, antiquated plumbing and electrical wiring and a lack of handicap accessibility has made the renovation of the Union a must. And these improvements must be made while preserving the character and beauty we all cherish.

I

t’s summer nights spent on the Terrace, watching Lake Mendota and listening to music. It’s actively participating in campus life and enjoying student programs. It’s experiencing the outdoors on a Hoofer sailboat and appreciating the arts in the Union Galleries.

It’s sharing Babcock ice cream or perhaps a cold beer with old friends and new.

DID YOU KNOW Your contribution will help us continue to be the heart and soul of this great University.

Rendering For The New South Campus Union

“The culture was changing so much that every month felt like a different year…There was a sensibility among students that they could change the world. The student union was the cultural and political headquarters.”

– David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the Washington Post and Associate Trustee of the Memorial Union Building Association

T

he Memorial Union is an architectural gem, the heart and soul of our beautiful University of Wisconsin campus.

But you know it is so much more...

Memorial Union: The Wisconsin Union will maintain Memorial Union's iconic architecture, while preserving recent investments such as the Main Lounge restoration. This project will maintain Memorial Union's unique place in campus life for generations to come.

Plans include: • Providing state-of-the-art spaces for student programs and events.

• Increasing student meeting and activity space by repositioning a number of operations at a new south campus Union.

• Making the entrances to Memorial Union more inviting and crowd friendly to improve traffic flow throughout the building.

• Creating sustainable future operations using energy efficient systems.

• Upgrading systems and improving accessibility, including ADA compliance and installing additional elevators.

• Providing a new sprinkler system, asbestos removal, fix sagging ceilings and floors as well as improving and adding restrooms.

• Preserving and maintaining the rich history and tradition of the building.

New South Campus Union: The Wisconsin Union will expand operations on the growing south end of campus with a new Union on the site of Union South. Analysis has shown that it is as cost effective to rebuild as to renovate, and its “green” design will reduce energy costs.

Plans include: • Designing a 21st Century ‘green’ building, UWMadison’s first LEED rated student building.

• Creating a new, people-friendly, green space which serves as the gateway to the south side of campus.

• Offering a true home for orientation and visitors programs on campus, creating positive first impressions for guests, new students and their families.

• Hosting entertainment, recreation and food service, including a coffee house and climbing wall.

• Providing large event space for student dances, fairs, conferences and more, as well as a film center/auditorium with 350 seats.

• Establishing an enduring and engaging college union with its own identity in an evolving campus neighborhood.

T

he Union is the legacy of students, faculty and Union members past and present.

Together, we need to ensure that the memories and experiences of the Union are a reality for all students who are fortunate enough to attend the University of Wisconsin. Think of how different your experience would have been without the activities, community and leadership opportunities the Union provided.

Costs are different now than they were in 1928 when students donated an average of $50 each to help construct the Memorial Union, the equivalent of $600 today. The 2006 referendum campaign was in this spirit and of the $167 million total cost of the Union project, $97 million, or nearly 60%, will be provided with student funds.

The Union receives no tax dollars—all funds needed for the Union project must come from students, alumni, and friends. Just as the Union welcomes a large variety of guests and members every day, we must appeal to a large network of people within and outside the University community for funds.

We hope you will help.

Please keep our legacy of exceptional student leadership, social education and fond memories alive. To make a gift to the Campaign for the Wisconsin Union, please contact:

Glenda Noel-Ney Director of Development Wisconsin Union • 800 Langdon St. • Madison, WI 53706 608-262-2687 • noelney@wisc.edu

Photos courtesy of the Wisconsin Union and the University of Wisconsin-Madison