Project Budget
Funding for the overall project, which includes both the south campus union redevelopment and the Memorial Union restoration, comes from a combination of student segregated fees ($48/semester through ‘08-’09 and $96/semester thereafter), Union operating revenue, private donations, and other campus sources (primarily Transportation Services for the underground parking at the south campus site). The following charts summarize the project’s overall budget breakdown:
The south campus union phase of the project was initially estimated to cost $87.7 million but received final approval at $94.8 million. This disparity is due to a number of factors, most notably a much more complex site than reflected in the preliminary project scope analysis. It is important to note that the $94.8 million figure is (barring major unforeseen circumstances) the maximum price, which may decrease as the exact budget becomes more clear during the course of construction (several large construction contracts have yet to be awarded and the overall cost also has large contingency funds to cover a variety of possible building complications).
Ultimately, Union Council, the institution’s student-majority governing board, voted to redistribute funds from the project’s Memorial Union phase to its the south campus union phase because so doing would best reflect the substance of the 2006 student referendum authorizing the segregated fee increase necessary to fund the project.
At $96 per semester (beginning in the ‘09-’10 year) the segregated fee amount actually ranks below the average of all segregated fee amounts for UW-System schools, as reflected on the chart below (UW-Madison is in black, the UW-System average is in red):
[...] Additional information can be found on the “Project Budget” page. [...]
It’s hard to justify tearing down a 38-year old building and spending $94 million on its replacement when tuition and fees keep going up faster than inflation. I guess this is an example of one of the first laws of economic taught me at UW: “the easiest thing in the world to do is spend other people’s money.”
By calling it a building you don’t understand what the Wisconsin Union brings to campus…basically with the growth on that side of campus the organization has not been able to provide adequate services and programming there. The main focus of the project is to create a building that will survive for at least 100 years with immense progress in sustainable practices. The old Union South was uninviting and contained 38 years of toxic materials left from the building boom on campus in the 60-70s. The building, at 38, no longer performed its function. It needed to go and the people who are spending 60% of the money also have majority vote on everything in the governance structure…as a donor to the project I say you are waaaaaaaaaay off base