A rendering of the proposed expansion of Hoofer's Lake Lab.
An expanded rooftop events area would have overhead shade.
UW-Madison is planning a $2.7 million expansion of the Wisconsin Hoofers’ lake lab, located off the shoreline of Memorial Union. The renovation would include additional storage, an expanded rooftop event space and an ADA-compliant ramp for wheelchair users. A new stairway from Park Street would also ease access to the club and the lake.
Hoofers is the largest student organization on campus and is composed of six clubs: scuba, outing, ski and snowboard, mountaineering, sailing and riding. Unlike most other student organizations, it is operated under direction of the Wisconsin Union Directorate. The site planned for renovation is used by Hoofers' sailing club for storage, to stage its sailboats and for educational events and camps.
“They’re looking at this long term as something that will really bring more interested parties to the table,” said Jenna Staff, project architect with River Architects, at a March 26 meeting of the city’s Joint Campus Area Committee.
Shauna Breneman, public relations and communications officer for the Wisconsin Union, tells Isthmus in a statement that “Outdoor UW and the Wisconsin Hoofers operate within a relatively compact shoreline footprint, which includes boat storage and limited outdoor classroom space.”
“While these spaces support a high volume of Hoofer members and Outdoor UW patrons, they were not designed for the current volume of use or the range of programs we offer today," Breneman says. She adds that the Wisconsin Union is aiming “for this project to be funded solely by donations.”
Lori Wilson, strategic communications and marketing director for UW-Madison’s Facilities and Planning Management division, says in a statement that the university does not plan to use any taxpayer funds for the project.
Staff said what was presented before the committee is an early “schematic design” and subject to changes.
The project would require relocating some of the 17 BCycle stations currently located at the end of Park Street. Under an agreement with BCycle, UW-Madison would keep around eight stalls at the current location and move the remainder to a location right next to Helen C. White Hall, where there’s currently a bike rack.
Some committee members worried about removing that bike rack, given that it is frequently fully occupied in the summer.
“I spend a lot of time at the union, and those racks…are heavily used,” said Robbie Webber, a committee member and former Madison city council member. “I think that you are significantly deteriorating the parking for bicyclists by removing those.”
Added Webber: “I don’t know if [UW-Madison Transportation Services] has signed off on that, because I think that they would be upset about losing that many bicycle spots for bicyclists.”
Regina Vidaver, also a member of the committee and president of the city council, agreed: “Taking away standard bike parking is extraordinarily inadvisable here.”
It’s unclear if construction would impact operations of the organization’s popular summer sailing camps. Vidaver asked if Hoofers would have to take a break in that period; Staff replied that architects are discussing with Hoofers what possible solutions would be to have a “usable” space during construction. Staff said the project timeline could also be pushed forward.
“It’s a pretty huge issue as a parent who sent both kids to sailing camp and had them both become instructors. It would be absolutely heartbreaking to know that there was a summer without Hoofer Sailing that wasn’t pandemic-induced,” said Vidaver.
