The UWM Student Union is Getting a Facelift

UW-Milwaukee announced a $40.7 million renovation of the student union to improve navigation, aesthetics and infrastructure at a kickoff event Nov. 30.

This comes after students rejected a union renovation project in 2017, but union officials warned of failing mechanical systems that threaten to shut the building down.

“I’m very serious when I say we are at risk of something happening that would cause us to not be able to open our doors,” said Rick Thomas, the director of the student union.

Air handling, electric and plumbing systems, as well as a new emergency generator, are among  mechanical updates to prevent power outages, flooding or elevator failure, according to the union renovation website.

While the campus was shut down during the Spring 2020 semester, the union’s fire alarm system failed and the building would have been shut down for several weeks, Thomas said.

The union was built in four parts between the 1950s and 1980s, resulting in a building that is difficult to navigate. The layout will generally remain the same, but the renovation will adjust it in some places.

“Students will be able to see where they are in the building and where they’re going instead of going through a series of Z’s or left and right turns,” Thomas said.

The resource centers that surround Union Station on the lower level will be moved and located together in a space beneath the Panther Shop, a space that has been unused for around eight years, according to Thomas.

“[I’m most excited for] the addition of gender-inclusive restrooms,” said Daniel Dyer, the vice president of academic affairs for the Student Association. “There’s currently two in the union and the new union will have two units of 8-10 rooms.”

Students at the kickoff said that the union looks and feels outdated, dark and harsh. The renovation includes windows where there are currently brick walls, new furniture and cosmetic updates such as new paint and floors.

“The union is super old and I think that any progress is good,” said Amanda Ford, a student graduating this spring. “The building should look good for when people come here like outsiders and future students. Things should look updated and new and not like they’re falling apart.”

The university has been discussing a union renovation at least since Thomas began his role as the union director in 2012. The projects have become less bold over the years, beginning as a full tear-down and evolving into the current project.

In the fall of 2015, the university added a Student Association-approved fee to fund a union renovation. The union capital project fee was phased into its current and final level of $75 per semester.

An architecture firm proposed a renovation plan which resulted in a referendum to raise student fees “fairly significantly” in 2017, according to Thomas. Students rejected this project.

Today’s project is not being accompanied by an increase in student fees. Funds already collected from the union capital project fee will pay for the project directly and, along with future funds, will help pay off bonds issued by the state of Wisconsin, according to Thomas.

“I feel like our student fees could go somewhere a little bit better,” said Makayla Brame, a student at the kickoff. “But it’s nice to see that it’s going into student life in some way.”

Union officials said student fees are not expected to increase in order to fund the project.

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but we believe we have made an appropriate, conservative estimate for what will be needed over the life of the bonds,” Thomas said.

At the construction-themed renovation kickoff, attendees could build a Lego keychain, work on a puzzle of the current union and sign a copy of the renovation blueprint, which will be displayed in the completed union.

The event concluded with speeches and a commemorative wall smash where university officials and students could swing a hammer into a wooden wall in place of a groundbreaking ceremony.

Blueprints and renderings were designed by HGA, a Milwaukee architecture firm. Findorff, a Wisconsin construction company, is the general contractor for the project. They report to the Department’s Facility Management state project manager, which is part of the Department of Administration, according to Thomas.

Sections of the union will be unavailable throughout the project and the building may be closed entirely during the summer of 2022, but all services will be available virtually or elsewhere on campus. The renovation is expected to be completed January 2023, according to the renovation website.