The University of Wisconsin-Madison has requested more than $262 million in state funding to tear down its humanities building and construct other spaces to house the programs that use the facility.
The Cap Times reports that university leaders hope to tear down the Mosse Humanities Building by 2028. The plans depend on approval from the state legislature and governor.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has recommended demolishing the building, but members of a state commission have deadlocked along party lines over Evers' recommendations, and the requests now go to the legislature's budget committee.
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin toured the facility last month with the governor and said the building "is literally crumbling.”
"Our students are still trying to do good things in it, as are our faculty, but the challenges are growing year by year by year....It's just time to say goodbye to this building."
University administrators have long wanted to tear down the Humanities Building. The facility has faced problems since before it opened in the late 1960s, including costly construction, design cuts and poor acoustics.
The Humanities Building has seven stories and roughly 333,000 gross square feet of space. It is largely made of concrete, which makes it difficult for people to get reception on electronic devices and play videos in music history classes inside the building. Ceilings, floors and windows leak in the building, and water damage is visible throughout.
The Humanities Building costs more to maintain than newer buildings and has accumulated roughly $70 million in deferred maintenance, says Cindy Torstveit, associate vice chancellor of facilities planning and management.
