UW officials have started to consider redeveloping UW-Madison’s Library Mall.
The university’s campus planners are looking for input on the redevelopment plan to make sure its future is inclusive and respectful of the shared experiences of all people, according to a press release.
The original 2015 Campus Master Plan-Landscape Master Plan describes the new redevelopment to include a large and open public gathering space with new paving, landscape paintings, seating, lighting, stormwater management and passive recreation areas.
A virtual community workshop will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 23. The meeting will define project goals based on stakeholder input, provide conceptual alternatives and prepare cost estimates — which will be entirely funded by private funds.
“We want to make sure everyone has a voice in this so it feels like everyone’s space,” said Gary Brown, director of Campus Planning and Landscape Architecture, in the release.
The virtual meeting is part of the project’s public engagement process which includes seeking feedback from historically underrepresented communities on campus. All community team leaders and 30 stakeholders are allegedly working to engage with the community as well.
“As a place of teaching and learning, understanding our shared history and the different worldviews held for this space and place is important to our present,” said UW–Madison Tribal Relations Director Aaron Bird Bear in the release, who serves on the core planning team for the project. “This understanding honors, reflects and allows us to integrate our past into the present and our future.”
Another virtual community meeting will be scheduled for May and more information and other workshop dates will be announced on the project’s website. UW-Madison is also collecting feedback through email and their survey.
