UW-Superior officials plan to transform campus, community

Sep. 14—SUPERIOR — When University of Wisconsin-Superior Chancellor Renee Wachter was inaugurated, she chose the theme "partnerships for progress."

Now the campus she leads has a plan that relies on partnerships to reshape itself for the benefit of the entire community.

"Everything we've been working toward this last decade or more has headed in that direction, and I think we're finally seeing the benefit of that activity," Wachter said.

The Superior Plan would add facilities at the northern and southern ends of campus; create a recreation corridor along Catlin Avenue; improve health services, mental health, child care and housing; and could serve as a catalyst for more economic development. The cost has yet to be determined, because it will depend on what the final plans are, said Jordan Milan, associate vice chancellor of enrollment and marketing. When officials unveiled the Superior Choice Credit Union Stadium project in 2022,

the price tag was $5 million for that portion.

Next steps include getting approval from the UW System Board of Regents. Milan said the plan will be on the October Board of Regents agenda.

Once the Regents approve the plan, officials will enter the design phase, "which will involve campus and community partners," Milan said.

After that, officials must get approval from the State Building Commission, which they expect to petition for in fall 2024. If approved, ground would be broken in 2025, Milan said.

Developing the plan started with several master planning efforts on campus to look at space needs, utilization, gaps and expanding capacity.

"As early as 2017 ... we had talked about a domed facility, and then the budgets got tight and that disappeared," Wachter said. "Actually, in retrospect, that was a good thing because I think the project we're coming up with now is much stronger and has a more inclusive focus."

With vast areas of open space, university officials are contemplating partnerships to create facilities vital to students, residents and visitors alike.

"I think what is exciting about their plan is they kind of hit on all of the elements that are lacking in the community," said Kim Pearson, administrator of Essentia Health-St. Mary's Hospital-Superior, which provides physical and mental health services to UWS students and athletes. That partnership would expand under the Superior Plan.

"We certainly need more housing in the area," Pearson said. "Child care is an issue. What's exciting about the project is it's really looking at the community's needs."

While attending a conference in Las Vegas with Jim Caesar of the Development Association, Wachter said they met with developers who shared options to get things done if state funding isn't available. University officials also studied public-private partnerships in Eau Claire and Green Bay.

"When the Pablo Center went up for Eau Claire in the downtown area, that was another opportunity afterwards where another $100 million of investment was then done," said Jenice Meyer, senior government and external relations officer for UWS. "That downtown area of Eau Claire has been completely transformed. The Pablo Center was a catalyst for development."

That potential exists with the creation of a recreational corridor, Meyer said.

The plan includes bookending the campus with additional sporting facilities.

On the north, along Belknap Street, a field house with indoor turf is planned.

"We know our winters are awfully challenging for spring sports," said Amy Starzecki, district administrator for the Superior School District.

The indoor space would give students the opportunity to be competitive with teams that can start training long before Superior teams can in the spring, she said.

"It creates more opportunity and better flexibility for our families and students — not just for our high school programs, but for our youth programs," Starzecki said.

On the south end of campus, the plan calls for creating two new sheets of indoor ice near Wessman Arena that could serve the university, high school and Superior Amateur Hockey Association.

The Superior School District already partners with the university for its boys varsity hockey program and with SAHA for its girls hockey program.

Having the additional sheets of ice would provide more opportunities, better practice times, and would be located right across the street from Superior High School, making it more accessible, Starzecki said.

SAHA board president Kyle Severin agrees having additional ice would benefit everyone from young children just learning how to skate, to teams. After all, the SAHA arena has been around for 39 years without a major renovation to its ice plant, roof and building. Replacing the ice plant alone could cost the organization about $1.2 million, Severin said.

"It would really help us to continue and maintain and support our hockey programs," Starzecki said.

Combined with Superior High School's athletic facilities, the Marcovich Wellness Center and the Superior Choice Credit Union Stadium slated for construction in the spring, Wachter said it will create a true recreational corridor along Catlin Avenue.

Razing Crownhart Hall would provide ample space to develop a hotel, new housing, child care, health care facilities and other complementary businesses along Belknap Street.

The building no longer meets the needs and desires of students for housing, Wachter said.

"This is the big question mark," the chancellor said, pointing to Crownhart Hall. "I believe it was built in 1964, and they do have a shelf life. I call it early cinder block. It's the oldest residence hall on the campus and if a building were to come down, that would be the one."

From a recruitment standpoint, having multi-generational housing and child care on campus would be an advantage for the community, Pearson said. Those are the two issues officials face when recruiting doctors, nurses and other professionals, she said.

With the creation of a recreation corridor, Wachter said it makes sense to have a hotel on campus for teams, families and tournaments.

Severin said the additional hotel space would help them when they are holding tournaments at the same time other events are going on in town, like the Lake Superior Ice Festival.

"There are times when Superior's hotels are completely booked and then overflow has to go into Duluth," Severin said.

But not all the facilities would be directly on Belknap or require new construction. A former Superior diocese building near Swenson Hall was purchased by the university several years ago. While university officials had considered several options for the building, Wachter said it was fortuitous that nothing was decided.

The building could be the new home of the Pruitt Wellness Center, which could work cooperatively with the Miller Dwan Foundation to provide mental health services to prevent people from reaching a crisis, Wachter said.

"There's not a lot of people doing this kind of work," Wachter said. The vision includes a rural innovation lab where effective practices could be shared in the region, community spaces and access to internships for students as well as clinical services.

"When we talk about the provider shortage, this may be an indirect way to bring awareness to the area as a hub," Wachter said.

The first phase of the campus transformation is slated to be built in the spring with Superior Choice Credit Union Stadium.

Bid documents are currently being drafted for the stadium that will be used for soccer and lacrosse, Wachter said. The new fields should be ready for athletes by fall 2024.

A new running track will surround the stadium.

"We're in the process of fundraising to name it the Dan Conway Track," Wachter said. "If you have any kind of running legacy, then you know how influential he was in the community."

Conway, an elite runner, taught history and coached track and cross country in Superior, Minong and Chetek. During his running career, he earned national championships, a world championship, age-group records, seven halls of fame inductions and a 15-year sponsorship from Nike.

The local campus has gotten the OK to continue planning from UW System President Jay Rothman, Wachter said. Internally, she said the UW System has hired planners and developers to move the plan forward while university officials have engaged with community partners.

Karen Walsh, UW System Regent president, said the thing she likes about the Superior Plan is how deeply it goes into the community and the different facets can come together.

"When you have a project like this, support from all of those community sectors is so crucial," Walsh said Wednesday, Sept. 13, during a Board of Regents visit in Superior. "Everyone has felt like their voice was heard and needs were taken into consideration. The other nice thing that happened is everyone kind of took the lid off their thinking and said 'this might be a possibility.' That's the synergy that I see here in the city of Superior."

The project is the next phase of the university's development, but it's also about how the university connects to the broader community, said Mayor Jim Paine.

"It's real development," Paine said. "It's building big, beautiful buildings that attract people to Superior ... bringing people into the heart of the community develops the whole city. It affects everybody. I really think it's a comprehensive and dramatic improvement to the city."

This story was updated at 11:25 a.m. Sept. 14 with renderings of the project contributed by UWS and at 10:40 a.m. Sept. 14 with a timeline and comments about the UW System giving UWS the OK to continue planning. It was originally posted at 10:03 a.m. Sept. 14.