In Celebration of 75 YearsA look back at Memorial Union’s anniversary

What a party it was! From fall 2003 to spring 2004, we celebrated Memorial Union’s 75th birthday. It was fun, enlightening, and sometimes challenging. For those with close ties to the Union, it was a time to reconnect and reminisce.

Working together, students, staff, and the anniversary planning committee set out to reach all generations and constituents of the Union. Our goals were to connect past, present, and future, and to increase awareness of all the Union has meant and continues to mean to the life of the University.

The dedicated and enthusiastic planners achieved their goals in many ways. The Ice Cream Jubilee, Terrace Chairs on the Town, Veterans’ Day observance, Kites on Ice, TerrraceFest, and other special events brought tremendous publicity and crowds to the Union. The anniversary web site allowed those far away to be a part of the celebration. Gifts from members of the Classes of 1950, 1951, 1954, 1964, and 1978 provided funds for various facility restoration and renovation projects. And finally, connections made with University and community partners formed the basis of relationships that will continue for years to come.

Memorial Union’s 75th anniversary celebrated the vibrancy and vitality that has defined the Union since 1928. Today, the Union remains a place to meet friends, to relax and enjoy the beautiful Terrace, to see a world-class theater performance or to discover a new hobby. It is a place to learn, through relationships and experiences, lessons that cannot be taught in a classroom.

We thank all those who worked so hard to make this milestone a truly memorable event. On the following pages, we invite you to enjoy highlights from the anniversary and learn more about our dreams for the next 25 years and beyond.

Jan Montgomery Michael Frohna75th Anniversary Co-chair 75th Anniversary Co-chair

At a Glance• The celebration went global on

the Union’s dedicated 75th web

site, which received 395,000 hits

throughout the year.

• More than 1,100 entries were

received to create a new flavor in

the Ice Cream Jubilee, a contest to

name a Babcock ice cream flavor for

the anniversary.

• A shortened version of Wisconsin

Union: Heart and Soul, a video

honoring the Union’s past, present,

and future, aired during several

nationally televised sporting events.

• More than 80 couples said “I do!”

at a special wedding vow renewal

ceremony during TerraceFest.

• Union Director Mark Guthier hit

the road and spread the excitement

of the anniversary to five cities as

part of UW Founders’ Day events.

• In addition to events and programs,

anniversary merchandise included

hats, T-shirts, a commemorative

print, special beers and root beer,

and an anniversary coffee blend.

Connections75 Years of

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Michael Frohna and Jan Montgomery hosted the October 11, 2003 anniversary program in the Union Theater.

Terrace Chairs on the TownTerrace Chairs on the Town, a student-led community art event, wove together three concepts integral to the Union’s mission and history—art, student leadership, and the famous sunburst chairs. The event featuredgigantic Terrace chairs designed and decorated by local artists for public display in twelve locations around Madison.

Directorate SignatureEventsThroughout the year, Wisconsin Union Directorate planned signature anniversary events that showcased the dedication and enthusiasm of the Union’s student programming board. Special lectures, concerts, art exhibits, a midnight breakfast, and theater performances are just a sampling of the varied programs that Directorate offered to recognize the Union’s 75th anniversary.

For 75 years Memorial Union has served as the social, cultural and recreational center of UW-Madison. During the anniversary, the Union offered an array of events that celebrated our rich history and showcased Union programs, connecting a new generation to the Union and providing experiences and memories to last a lifetime.

Students & Campus

Hundreds got a sneak peek of the Terrace Chairs exhibit at a special unveiling event.

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Tibetan monks created a sand mandala as part of The Mystical Arts of Tibet performance in the Union Theater. The program was the Performing Arts Committee signature event.

After 1,200 people sampled the five new flavors created for the Ice Cream Jubilee, Union Utopia, a delicious blend of vanilla ice cream with peanut butter, fudge, and caramel, won as the commemorative 75th flavor.Connecting with

What do you think has been the Union’s biggest accomplishment?The greatest accomplishment for the Wisconsin Union over the last 75 years is what it will continue to do for the next 75 years, and that’s to be the one place that students, faculty, staff, alumni, and Madison community members all have in common—the one home for UW-Madison. And it does that in a way unlike any other college union in the country.

In what ways do you think the Union will change or evolve?Sometimes we think of students as the piece that changes the most. We’ve also seen the needs and tastes of faculty change over the years. For example, faculty dining clubs aren’t the big things they were in the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s. Today, it’s grab-and-go dining, and we’ve changed to meet that. I can’t tell you right now what the dining preference will be in 10 years, but we will be ready to serve it.

In entertainment, campus interests change, the type of programming may change, but our commitment to offering first-class quality entertainment will still be there. The same might be true of Hoofers. The ski jump came down off Muir Knoll in the ’30s and ’40s, and that’s not there anymore. Now we have scuba diving and horseback riding. Those are just a few examples.

What kinds of physical changes do you envision for the Union buildings? We’re very close to finishing an overall long-range facility master plan that takes into account the rehabilitation, restoration, and expansion of Memorial Union and Union South and begins to ask the question about the possibility of building a third union someday.

When you look at walking distances from our two facilities, you begin to see there are sections of campus that are not within a 10-minute walk. That gets us thinking about how to reach the areas of campus we don’t currently touch.

In addition, our facilities and physical surroundings need to change to meet current needs, tastes, and desires. They must be more tech-savvy than they were 10 or 20 years ago. How people proceed through a building is different from how it was 10 or 20 years ago, so corridors and way-finding, paths and lighting, and those types of things must continue to be improved.

When Memorial Union was built, it served a campus community of 8,000 people. Union South was added at a time when the campus community—including students, faculty and staff—was close to 40,000 people. We now serve a campus community of 60,000, and that doesn’t begin to add in the Madison community. We are beginning

The Union’s Next Era

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As Memorial Union began its 75th anniversary On Wisconsin magazine writer John Lucas talked with Union Director Mark Guthier about the Wisconsin Union’s history—and what the UW’s beloved institution will reach for as it embarks on the next 75 years.

Union Director Mark Guthier in front of Memorial Union’s Main Entrance, which was recently restored thanks to a gift from the Class of 1978.

to outgrow our facilities. Through the master plan, we’ve examined to what extent we can add facilities for additional meeting space, entertainment space, and food space. At Memorial [Union], we have limited room to expand, so we’ll need creative solutions to add space. [Union] South’s the same way. We’re looking at underground options and the possibility of other ways to expand.

What about a proposal for the west end of campus?Currently, the Union doesn’t really serve the west end of campus well, as far as being within close walking distance. The students, faculty, and staff on the far western edge of campus need convenient dining opportunities, meeting rooms, possible program space, and student organization space. A new west-campus union could, out of all three facilities, serve a grad school population more directly than the other two, which would make it unique.

A master plan is a long-range document. How do you prioritize which improvements come first?The consulting team that worked with the Union to develop a master plan has organized the elements of the plan into what we’d call “doable chunks.” Beginning with the 75th anniversary through the 100th anniversary, in that 25-year span, if we were going to do something every three to five years, what would it be? We’re looking at different funding models—our own operations, plus some level of support from students, as well as donor support.

How could Union South become more integrated into the campus community?The key to [Union] South is to think of it as a wonderful union in its own right and to do something there that allows it to stand on its own. It needs to have its own sense of place and identity. Something that makes it a point of destination, like the Terrace. It also needs to be more transparent—the master plan includes ideas for opening up the space so that you can see the activities going on inside.

Do you have any “high concept” ideas for Union South? A coffeehouse cyber-café concept is one thing that’s being talked about. Instead of trying to replicate the Rathskeller, let’s go the other direction and have it spill out onto an urban terrace and amphitheater.

How about Memorial Union?One of the things we want to do with Memorial is to renovate spaces and bring them back to the aesthetic quality they had when the building first opened. One example of that is what we did with the renovation of the Main Lounge, thanks to a gift from the Class of 1950. That project, which included

adding central air conditioning into the space, was not so much a historic preservation project, but a historic rehabilitation. That is a good example of what we want to have happen throughout the building.

The redo of the Lakefront

Café—soon to be called Lakefront on Langdon— will be the most visible change immediately, right?Lakefront on Langdon will be an example of what we hope to do with all of our food service outlets, which will be to modernize them and make them more customer friendly. It’ll be a “market” concept, and we’ll be able to change our food

concepts more quickly—without having to wait 10 or 20 years to gut the whole thing again.

What big-ticket items could be in the future for Memorial Union?One example would be the Wisconsin Union Theater wing— there’s a possibility of adding space on the north side to support receptions and catering. Or a ballroom with a wonderful view of the lake, in addition to a new entrance on the south side and an expanded box office.

There are ideas for expanding the Terrace to go from the Union across the East Campus Mall (and the current parking lot), across the Red Gym and to the Alumni Center. Can we start to think of the Terrace as being larger than just the space behind Memorial—that it would encompass Lake Street to Park Street—creating a neighborhood of sorts?

What are the top two or three things you hear when you’re out talking to people about the Union?The Union is the heart and soul of the campus. People love the fact that it has such a history about it, and that it’s always been here, and it’s this common thread. Whether you came in 1928 or graduated in 2002, you have something in common with everyone in between, because you’ve all shared the Wisconsin Union.

The other thing that I hear is that we need to take care of the Union. And that we can’t allow it to deteriorate. I probably hear that more from people who go away and come back, because if you’re here every day it’s kind of like you don’t notice yourself growing old. But see someone you haven’t seen for 10 years—they look different to you.

UW alumni love this place and have fond memories, but they also notice that we need to take care of it. We want it to be as everybody remembers it, and for a lot of those people, it was this shining jewel for the campus. That’s really what this master planning process has been about—to identify ways we can do that, celebrate that, in the years to come, so students will come in 2028 and have the same experience students had in 1928.

For more information about the Wisconsin Union’s master plan, contact Mark Guthier at (608) 262-2263 or mcguthier@wisc.edu.

Reprinted and edited with permission from the winter 2003 edition of On Wisconsin.

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Lakefront on Langdon Restaurant opened in March 2004.

The newly renovated Main Lounge, the first of several UW class gift projects undertaken in honor of the Union’s anniversary.

Alumni Weekend ReceptionDuring the Wisconsin Alumni Association’s annual Alumni Reunion Weekend festivities in May 2004, the Union hosted a special reception for alums who wanted to partake in the 75th anniversary celebration. In addition, the Union co-sponsored the Distinguished Alumni Awards portion of WAA’s weekend of events.

Union Reunion WeekendUnion staff, board members, former student leaders and other Union Family members came together in October 2003 for special tours and displays; an all-staff anniversary gathering; and the unveiling of Heart & Soul, a video celebrating the Union’s past, present, and future. On Saturday, October 11, a program in the Union Theater and dinner in Great Hall capped off the weekend of festivities.

Union Trustee Bill Kasdorf, along with his wife, Cheryl, and Trustee Ann Prisland, proudly displays a booklet he designed in honor of the anniversary.

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Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Jane Kaczmarek celebrated with Union Trustees Bill Johnson and Jeff Bartell and Jeff’s wife, Angela.

Hundreds attended special events to commemorate Veterans’ Day and pay tribute to those Memorial Union was built to honor.

Family & FriendsConnecting with

Small moments in the lives of thousands of people weave together to form the unique and wonderful tradition of the Wisconsin Union. Throughout the anniversary year, we invited our closest friends and supporters to reconnect and share their favorite Union experiences.

TerraceFestThe anniversary celebration wrapped up on a picture perfect June day with live bands, free sailing, children’s and craft activities, rides on the Original Wisconsin Ducks, and a special wedding vow renewal ceremony on the Terrace. Because of its wonderful success, TerraceFest has been deemed the Union’s newest summer tradition.

Kites on IceMemorial Union, always a focal point of vitality in the community, served as co-sponsor and host location for Madison’s sixth annual Kites on Ice festival. On a cold, snowy weekend in February, more than 80,000 people visited the Union to share in this beautiful spectacle of color and vibrancy.

In a great show of support from campus and the community, dozens of businesses sponsored portions of TerraceFest and Terrace Chairs on the Town; our campus partners generously shared resources in planning and promoting events; and more than 100,000 friends connected to the heart and soul of UW-Madison during the celebration.

Connecting with Community

Dozens of happy couples said a renewed “I do” at TerraceFest.

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Dazzling kite displays soared high over the frozen waters of Lake Mendota.

The State Capitol provided a stunning backdrop for one piece of the Terrace Chairs on the Town exhibit.

Anniversary Schedule of EventsIce Cream Top Five Tasting, September 5, 2003

Terrace Chairs on the Town Sneak Preview, September 20, 2003Anniversary Kick-Off, October 4–5, 2003

Union Reunion Weekend, October 10–11, 2003Veterans’ Day Concert, November 9, 2003

Veterans’ Day Observance, November 11, 2003Tudor Holiday Dinner Concerts, December 3–10, 2003

Kites on Ice, February 6–8, 2004Alumni Reunion Weekend, May 7–8, 2004

TerraceFest, June 12, 2004

Ongoing Events, Special Projects and Class GiftsTerrace Chairs on the Town, September 2003–July 2004

Wisconsin Union Directorate Signature Events, October 2003–May 200475th Anniversary Web Site

Wisconsin Union: Heart & Soul Video/DVDExperiences for a Lifetime Display

Class of 1950 • Memorial Union Main Lounge RenovationClass of 1951 • Lakeshore Improvement Project

Class of 1954 • Memorial Hall RestorationClass of 1964 • Memorial Union Architectural Lighting Project

Class of 1978 • Memorial Union Main Entry Renovation

Photos by UW-Madison/University Communications and Wisconsin Union

Memorial Union • 800 Langdon Street • Madison, WI 53706 • (608) 265-3000Union South • 227 N. Randall Avenue • Madison, WI 53715 • (608) 263-2600

www.union.wisc.edu