How UW-Madison Managed Rec Field Project Responsibly

You’re going to do what!?

When we first told the campus community that we were interested in installing a synthetic turf system over 300,000 square feet that is known on campus as the “Near West Fields,” the initial reaction by many was one of shock. After all, it was a very large space to consider doing such a project; almost 9 acres total. It hadn’t been done to this magnitude on the campus before, and not at all for the 98% of students that are not Division I athletes. More importantly, the site is located in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, an area around the shores of Lake Mendota on the southeast portion of campus. We knew entering into this project the conversations were going to be very sensitive about this idea, and in order to move it forward, we had to embrace the environment in addition to all of the programmatic considerations. In short, we had to do our research and homework and be able to provide answers to every question about how this project could impact the campus and its surroundings, positively or negatively....