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MATC Starts Construction Projects at Truax and Commercial Ave.
in May
Madison Area Technical College (MATC) will begin
several construction projects mid May at its Truax and Commercial
Avenue locations to
increase space and upgrade facilities. As a result, parking and
public entrances at Truax near the District Administration Building
adjacent to Anderson Street will be closed over the summer.
“We plan our major construction activities for the summer,
when fewer students and faculty are on campus,” states Fred
Brechlin, MATC facilities architect. “Our goal is to inconvenience
as few people as possible when we ask those on campus to ‘pardon
our dust’.” Brechlin notes that while several of the
summer projects will not be completed until December, MATC will
finish the most disruptive parts of the construction work before
the fall semester starts in late August.
At Truax, a second story
extension will be added above the current one-story cafeteria
located in the central section of the main
building and the footprint of the MATC District Administration
Building adjacent to Anderson Street will be expanded. At 2125
Commercial Avenue, where MATC offers Apprenticeship and Criminal
Justice programs, the main office will be remodeled, an elevator
installed and workstations and bathrooms upgraded to comply with
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The 4320 sq. ft. second-floor
addition at Truax will provide remodeled and new centralized space
for the college’s Department of
Educational Technology and Services, provide new shared office
space for administrative staff and allow current staff space to
be reassigned for instructional use. The one-story Administration
Building is being expanded by 1270 sq. ft. and remodeled to improve
Human Resources’ facilities for interviewing, hiring and
training faculty and staff. In addition, the added space will allow
the staff of several departments who now work at various sites
to consolidate into shared space in the Administration Building.
During
the construction, the college’s technology department,
located on the second floor, will move to temporary quarters on
the first floor of Truax. The MATC President’s and Provost’s
offices will move from the Administration Building to interim space
in the main Truax building. Human resources, fiscal and marketing
and public relations staff who work in the Administration Building
will be relocated temporarily to a large shared space at Commercial
Avenue. Phone numbers and mailing address for all relocated staff
will remain the same during and after the renovations. Brechlin
expects all staff will be working in their new locations by the
end of the year.
“Some of our staff have been
waiting a long time for these changes,” states
Brechlin. “Over the past 10 years, instructional projects
have represented 85% of MATC’s capital funding for construction
and remodeling. The Truax second floor, Administration Building
and Commercial Avenue projects have been approved, prioritized
and awaiting funding since 1998.” The three projects are
being completed over two fiscal years at a projected cost of $2,000,000.
More information about the building projects is available at: http://matcmadison.edu/ad/facilities/default.htm.
In
addition to the building projects, the replacement of many Truax
air handling units was prompted by the college’s ongoing
efforts to improve the indoor air quality. The air handling units
perform the important job of providing the proper heating ventilation
and air conditioning to occupied spaces. The $1.8 million needed
to complete this upgrade was approved last spring by the MATC District
Board, following a recommendation made by the college’s Indoor
Air Quality Committee. In addition to this major overhaul of air
handling units, the ongoing upgrade of HVAC systems is part of
all remodeling projects at MATC and will be included in the other
summer projects as well.
MATC is one of the largest of the Wisconsin Technical
College System’s
16 colleges and serves about 50,000 individuals annually. It provides
a comprehensive curriculum of technical, liberal arts and science,
adult basic education and life enrichment studies and activities,
as well as customized employee training. MATC provides training
in more than 100 career programs. It awards associate degrees,
vocational diplomas and certificates, and offers non-degree courses.
The college serves all or parts of 12 counties located in south-central
Wisconsin and offers instruction through five campuses and various
other locations throughout the district.
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Last
Modified:
January 19, 2007
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