CHANGING THE CAMPUS
LANDSCAPE
PUTNAM
PARK
Master plan leads to critical improvements above and
below the surface at picturesque Wisconsin university
DAVIES
CENTER
By Wendy Kinderman
T
he University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has been known as
“Wisconsin’s most beautiful campus” for decades. Founded in 1916
as the Eau Claire State Normal School, the campus is surrounded
by natural beauty. The campus grew along the banks of the Chippewa
River, with academic buildings on both sides linked by a picturesque
footbridge. Putnam Park, a 200-acre State Natural Area, originates at the
river and meanders along and behind the campus. Little Niagara Creek
flows through the lower campus into the Chippewa. “The Hill” rises
from lower campus (home to most academic buildings) to upper campus
(home to most residence halls and other support facilities) – a change in
elevation of nearly 100 feet.
SOUTH
SCHOFIELD
LAWN
CENTENNIAL
HALL
Like many universities, UW-Eau Claire grew rapidly in the 1960s and
1970s as the Baby Boomers came to college. New buildings were
needed, and quickly. And those natural features that make UW-Eau
Claire beautiful also limit where more buildings can go. The need to
house and educate ever more students meant that bricks and mortar at
times trumped green space.
“Decisions were made that weren’t as much about the long term as
about need,” said Mike Rindo, assistant chancellor for facilities and
university relations.
But starting in 2009, two major building projects – a replacement for
the student union (W.R. Davies Student Center) and a new education
building (Centennial Hall) – plus the demolition of the old Davies Center
changed the landscape of the University – both above and below
ground.
SCHOFIELD
HALL
CENTRAL
PLAZA
CHIPPEWA
RIVER
GARFIELD
AVENUE
Rindo explained that the University developed a new master plan as
design was in progress for the new Davies Center. The master plan takes
a long-term look at the campus and how it functions. In addition to siting
future buildings, the plan pays close attention to the cultivated areas
of campus, he said. But while the natural and cultivated landscapes
are what students, staff, faculty, and visitors notice, the infrastructure
underneath the grass and flowers is even more crucial to the smooth
functioning of the campus.
To serve the new Davies Center and Centennial Hall and the rest of
lower campus, the University undertook two major steam infrastructure
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