For the third time since 1954, veterans, descendants of veterans and other officials are taking issue with the University of Wisconsin's march to develop athletic facilities on the site of Camp Randall, a former Union training ground during the Civil War, and that's not counting Camp Randall Stadium, where the Badgers play football.
As reported by Todd Milewski of the Wisconsin State Journal, the proposal to build a $285 million football practice facility on part of Camp Randall Memorial Park has been scrutinized by those who see the land as sacred. Though it will occupy the footprints of the Camp Randall Memoral Sports Center (built in 1954) and the Dave McClain Center (1986), some veterans have raised concerns in recent months about how much more of Camp Randall Memorial Park will be taken up by the new construction and what input they had in the project.
For the third time since 1954, veterans, descendants of veterans and other officials are taking issue with the University of Wisconsin's march to develop athletic facilities on the site of Camp Randall, a former Union training ground during the Civil War, and that's not counting Camp Randall Stadium, where the Badgers play football.
As reported by Todd Milewski of the Wisconsin State Journal, the proposal to build a $285 million football practice facility on part of Camp Randall Memorial Park has been scrutinized by those who see the land as sacred. Though it will occupy the footprints of the Camp Randall Memoral Sports Center (built in 1954) and the Dave McClain Center (1986), some veterans have raised concerns in recent months about how much more of Camp Randall Memorial Park will be taken up by the new construction and what input they had in the project.
The Board of Regents on Friday approved UW-Madison's plan to honor veterans, which was required by the state Legislature in the capital budget proceedings that allowed for part of the park to be used for the new facility, Milewski reported. The park represents the "single most important Civil War historic site in the state of Wisconsin," according to Jason Maloney, the former chair of the state Board of Veterans Affairs.
More than 70,000 Union soldiers trained at the camp from 1861 to 1865 and in 1862 more than 1,200 Confederate prisoners of war were detained there.
A piece of land between the Shell and Monroe Street was added to the park in 1986 in exchange for the athletic department taking another parcel to build the McClain Center as an indoor practice facility for football.
A triangular area added to the park when the athletic department built the McClain Center, a 40-year-old football practice facility now bordering on obsolescence, is now being taken back for use in the new facility. Jim Gingras, a member of the university's chapter of Student Veterans of America, calls it the "most valuable bit of real estate on the whole park." It's the only remaining part that's actually within the perimeter of what was Camp Randall during the Civil War, Milewski reported.
"I love athletics; they're awesome," said Gingras, a UW-Madison doctoral student. "But they've shown time and time again, from 1913 through today, that whenever they can take more land to expand their footprint, they're going to."
As reported by the State Journal, the Board of Veterans Affairs is scheduled to hear an informational presentation about the project at its June 20 meeting. But Maloney was upset earlier this year that the board lost the authority to approve or veto changes to the park as it relates to the new football facility.
The state Legislature's Joint Finance Committee on Feb. 7 unanimously passed an amendment to the UW System capital budget bill that clarified that the park is not limited to use as a memorial for purposes of building the new football facility, Milewski reported, adding that it also required that the Board of Regents submit a plan to honor Wisconsin veterans by June 30.
The amendment allowed for an overlap of the new facility onto land that now is part of Camp Randall Memorial Park without requiring the veterans board approval.Â
Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh said he and other athletics and campus representatives have discussed with the Department of Veterans Affairs using the triangular portion of the park to "tell the story of the park and the history there and veterans in general," the State Journal reported.
"Our priority is to create a situation in which everybody feels good about it and walks away feeling as though that they've won, and I think that can be accomplished," McIntosh said. "I think there's an opportunity that's a win-win for everyone involved."
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Per Milewsk's reporting:
UW-Madison said in the proposal approved by the Board of Regents on Friday that it plans to incorporate feedback from veterans groups in design of a veterans plaza in the new practice facility. Project renderings have shown that element going on what's now the triangular part of the park.
The university also committed to between $300,000 and $400,000 in one-time funding on veteran initiatives and an estimated $55,000 annually to fund a new position in the veterans services department.
The athletic department will institute a program to recognize a veteran at each home football game and will install a seat at Camp Randall Stadium to recognize prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action.
Tailgating in Camp Randall Memorial Park on football game days also will be halted.
Gingras has been pushing university officials for a purpose-built facility to house student veteran organizations and to serve as a memorial, and he wants it to be built in Camp Randall Memorial Park. That's partly because of the location's significance to veterans, Gingras said, but also to block what he called a "gradual encroachment" by the athletic department into the park.
The park is "hallowed ground," Maloney said, "because it really represents the sacrifice of life and limb that veterans have made through the history of the state and our nation."
