Northwoods Reporter

The project includes two potential areas of development near campus

The University of Wisconsin-Superior has stood as a landmark in the City of Superior since 1893, impacting countless lives and careers along the way. Throughout the years, the campus has seen countless updates.

The 1970s saw the addition of the Holden Fine and Applied Arts Center and a south campus site was purchased where residence halls and Siinto S. Wessman Arena were built.

The 21st Century heralded a new phase of construction on campus. The Marcovich Wellness Center was completed in 2003, Jim Dan Hill Library was remodeled in 2009 and the Yellowjacket Union opened in 2010. Swenson Hall welcomed its first class in the fall of 2011, and in 2013 a link was built between Ross and Hawkes Residence Halls.

A new wave of renovations for UW-Superior are potentially on the horizon with two projects that could become beneficial for both the campus and community.

“The potential Belknap and 28th Street Projects explore how UW-Superior can work with partners to create community assets and revitalize underutilized areas on campus,” said Jenice Meyer, senior strategic partnerships officer and director of The Link Center at UW-Superior. “If successful, the project will further create a campus that is attractive to current and future students, enhancing their curricular and out-of-classroom experiences, while simultaneously responding to external community and regional needs.”

The goals of the project include adding to the UW-Superior experience by increasing student access to rewarding academic, athletic and recreation facilities. The plan will also help meet regional needs of the Superior community; breathing new life into the expanding University District of Belknap Street, which already serves as a main thoroughfare in the city. The hopes are that this will aid tourism, recreational facility options for youth, housing demands along with potential hotel and retail needs to create a community and campus asset that serves all for generations.

“As an anchor institution, where partnerships and serving the region are key part of UW-Superior’s mission-driven work, we stay tuned to the needs of the community,” said Meyer. “Chancellor Wachter and I recognized, through the work of Better City Superior, the Development Association, Mayor Paine’s Economic Development Team and other community efforts that the facility needs we had for our students and university were similar to the broader community.”

The project includes two potential areas of development near campus.

The nearly 8-acre Belknap site includes the potential redevelopment of the unused Ole Haugsrud Stadium and surrounding area to include an indoor turf field.

“The Belknap site redevelopment is expected to offer a mix of uses and activities to accommodate a diversity of visitors, leveraging visibility and adjacency to both the campus and commercial corridor to attract outside development,” said Meyer.

Once a developer is selected, additional options for housing, retail or a hotel will be considered to further complete the site and the surrounding area.

“We knew, through exploring partnership, there was opportunity to deliver on both the community and university facility needs by working together,” said Meyer. “The proposed concept of the Belknap Project is a result of an accumulation of studies and data collected by the university and community. Such studies include the UW-Superior Master Plan, UW-Superior recreation and athletics facility study, City of Superior’s retail study, City of Superior’s housing study and City of Superior’s recreational study.”

The 28th Street Project involves the possibility of an expanded Wessman Arena with outdoor competition fields on its nearly 15 acres. Its location across Catlin Ave. from Superior High School would complete the current athletics corridor between UW-Superior and the high school.  

“Conversations and commitments to explore the expansion of Wessman Arena have been underway with leadership from UW-Superior, the Superior School District, City of Superior and Superior Amateur Hockey Association,” said Meyer. “A collective vision to have an expanded hockey arena in one location would be a game changer for our community. If an expanded arena comes to fruition, it would meet the current and future needs of youth, high school, collegiate and recreation hockey, as well as hosting tournaments, generating additional tourism to the area.”

Both the Belknap and 28th Street Projects share the same common goal for both the campus and community.

“When broken down, we are really looking to build facilities through partnership that will strengthen UW-Superior, the Superior community and our broader region,” said Meyer. “This type of partnership approach is complex; however, it is the right step to designing facilities that can be used and enjoyed by generations to come.”

Projects of this magnitude do not happen quickly, especially when much research and approvals need to be obtained but could be worth the wait for the campus and community.

“It is hard to believe, but we have been exploring this type of Public Private Partnership for about four years,” said Meyer. “We are waiting final UW System and state-level approvals to complete phase two of the four development phases. We intend to have final approval to release an RFP and find a developer to begin designing and negotiating for both the Belknap and 28th Street Projects as soon as fall. The intention is to have the fourth state of development, the groundbreaking and building phase, begin as early as the 2024-2025 academic year.”

Original source can be found here.