STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — A local university building is at the top of the list for UW System replacements in this year’s biennial capital improvements budget.
Friday morning former Governor and current UW System Interim President Tommy Thompson visited the UW-Stevens Point campus to tour Albertson Hall. Albertson Hall houses the campus library, local and state historical archives, the Museum of Natural History, and several student service offices. The building, built in 1968, has deteriorated to the point where replacing the building is the only cost-effective option left.
The failing and antiquated fire suppression system in the basement of Albertson Hall at UWSP.
Following a tour of Albertson Hall, Thompson remarked on the poor condition of the building and the need to replace it, as opposed to renovation. “Ninety million dollars it’d take to fix it up. The windows are falling off. The frames are falling out, the bricks and the walls. I don’t want anybody to be in a building on our campus that’s unsafe. And this building is starting to get unsafe,”.
One of several windows that has been replaced at Albertson Hall caused by deflection in the building’s structure. Windows and window frames have needed to carry the building’s weight, leading to cracks and bent frames.
According to Student Government Association President Colin Nygren, students have been lobbying for funding to repair the issues at Albertson Hall for 9 years. “SGA has met with numerous members of the Assembly, and Senate, and the Joint Finance Committee. When we first started lobbying, the building just needed repairs. But most recently, planners discovered a structural deterioration and told us it would be more cost-effective to replace the whole building.
“The foundation of the building is deteriorating. The building doesn’t have the strength to support its own weight. And the fire suppression system, if there was a fire in there we’re not too sure if anything would last. While passing inspection, it’s on the verge of being untrustworthy,”.
A group of bricks that were replaced on the outside of Albertson Hall after the original bricks fell out of the wall due to the deflection of the building structure.
Albertson Hall is the number one building for raising and replacing in the UW System’s capital improvement requests to the Legislature. The UW System requests for capital improvements are included in Governor Ever’s full Capital Improvements Budget, which was rejected by the State Building Commission in mid-March after a 4-4 deadlock along party lines. Building projects will now go individually to the Joint Finance Committee in creating the next biennial budget.
Thompson says that in his conversation with legislators about concerns with the UW System capital improvement requests, he urges them to fund the projects to invest in the future of the state. “Ninety percent of these graduates, 37,000 year in and year out, and they’re staying here in Stevens Point. They’re helping their companies grow. They’re helping the community grow. They’re starting businesses.
“I want the engineers to stay in Wisconsin. And I want all the environmentalists, and all the ones dealing with water research in conservation to stay in Wisconsin and help build in Wisconsin. We’re such a beautiful state. And so this campus here is so important. And that’s why I’m telling you, through you, for the legislature and to the citizens and through the Mayor, this is an investment in our future. Let’s not screw it up. Let’s get it done and let’s build for tomorrow. For our children of tomorrow and for our state of tomorrow,”.
Replacing Albertson Hall is estimated to cost around $96 million. That money will be used to construct an efficient, ADA-accessible replacement at the same location. If the building were to be renovated it would have cost anywhere from $78 million to $82 million or 89% of the building’s value, which exceeds the UW System threshold of replacing a building when it reaches 75% of it’s value.
The University has proposed to replace the facility over the next three years with plans to tear the building down by the fall of 2022. Student services inside Albertson Hall would be relocated to other buildings on campus during the construction. The University hopes to have the new building ready for students by the spring of 2024.
