Madison College’s plans for a campus on Madison’s south side took a huge step forward Tuesday. During an announcement on the site of the south side campus, President Jack Daniels III said that construction of all phases of the new south campus will begin in June and be completed in time to hold classes and community meetings there in Fall 2019.
Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates, which gave a $3 million cash gift and issued a $3.5 million matching challenge last October, has restructured its contribution in the amount of up to $10.2 million to ensure the new south campus will be completed in a single phase, rather than three phases as previously planned.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce that we are going to build a 75,000 square foot facility on the corner of Badger Road and Park,” said Daniels.
Last fall, Madison College originally announced that it would take three phases to complete the new building and that it would continue to seek more funding.
But with Great Lakes making so large a contribution, along with previous multi-million dollar gifts from the Goodman Foundation and American Family Dreams Foundation, the new building will be ready to go in August 2019.
This new building will be highly accessible for people on the south side. It’s just across the street from Madison Metro’s South Transfer Point and will be easy to park near or walk or bike to.
“This campus will forever change the face of South Madison and transform the lives of those who live there,” said Madison College Executive Vice President Keith Cornille.
The new building site will be called the Goodman South Campus.
Madison College is going to be reaching out to members of the community and working with places like Centro Hispano, as well as other organizations, to make sure that the cultures and ethnicities which permeate the south side will be represented in the architecture inside the building. President Daniels says he will be reaching out to Hmong, Native American, Latino and Black organizers across the city for ideas.
Madison College has raised a total of $25 million for this project since the early stages of planning began in 2015. The funds were raised through private donations, and the campus will be built without the need for a referendum. President Daniels expects shovels to be in the dirt this June and construction to start happening in August pending approval on May 2 from the Madison College Board of Trustees and procurement of the land purchase from WICS on May 8.
President Daniels told Madison365 that he expects those last steps to happen without issues, and he thanks all the contributions from friends and donors, particularly Great Lakes for their “wonderful gift.”
