Madison is home to tons of history and sentimental hotspots. We have the big ones such as the Capitol, Memorial Union, Bascom Hill and many others. However, it’s the smaller, more unnoticed areas that are under attack.
Real estate developers have made plans to destroy the Stadium Bar on Monroe Street and put a six-story apartment complex in its place. The Minneapolis-based OPUS Group plans to create a complex with retail space on the first floor and five floors of apartments. This brings the entire building to a total of 100 units and 150 bedrooms with 40 underground parking spaces.
While it is extremely important that every student finds a place to live while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this continual construction of more and more apartment complexes is getting out of control.
I don’t know about anybody else, but I have never had trouble finding a place to live and I have lived off campus for three straight years. Like most incoming freshmen, I spent my first year at UW-Madison in a dorm—Sellery to be exact. Every year since then, I have signed a lease for a house off campus early spring semester and in no way have I felt the need to stress out about my living situation.
The evidence that housing options out-number student population can be seen every fall semester. Ever seen landlords offering free lunch and other goodies to students who view their properties? Clearly there is some degree of worry that their units won’t be filled, which means students have found alternative options. So again I ask, why is the city still allowing these real estate developers to come in and demolish historic buildings and replace them with apartments when they aren’t necessary?
Not only are there other housing options for students off campus, but the university has plenty of options for students on campus as well. New dorms are being built almost just as frequently as new apartment complexes. Dejope Hall has just recently been completed and another residence hall called New 32 Hall is planned to open up in August of 2013.
The bottom line is the student population is growing at a rate slower than that of the number of housing units becoming available. Even if students outnumbered the number of beds, there are solutions to this problem other than tearing down Wisconsin’s history.
Why not invest in a better public transportation system so students can get to classes quickly, even if they live far away? Or perhaps real estate companies could participate in reconstruction projects to expand already existing apartment complexes. The university could take a more active role in this issue as well, building complexes tailored for sophomores and juniors rather than just building more dorms for incoming freshmen.
At the end of the day, Stadium Bar is just another bar. However, at what point is more development too much? Can we demolish Mifflin Street? The sophomore slums?
When I come back to UW-Madison later in life you can bet the first thing I will want to do is visit all my favorite spots on campus. I can’t imagine how disappointed I will be if I find my favorite bar or neighborhood has been replaced by apartments. While Stadium Bar may just be a bar, to some students and even some alumni it holds a lot of memories. I implore students to attend a meeting Thursday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. at Union South and let them know that demolishing history is unacceptable.
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Editor's Note: This article originally stated the meeting was Nov. 26. The correct date is Dec. 6. We regret the error.
