Plant vs. Plants
A proposed power plant may eventually bring much-needed energy to campus buildings. But before it is even built, the plant has been creating sparks, as planners try to squeeze it onto a campus that has little remaining unused space.
Administrators have envisioned a new plant for several years, recognizing that planned new laboratories and facilities will increase power needs. The university and Madison Gas and Electric joined to design a 150-megawatt facility, which is proposed for a 4.5-acre site at Walnut Street and Herrick Drive, just north of an existing heating plant. If approved, the plant will generate heating and air-conditioning for campus's expanding west side, as well as electricity for some Madison homes.
But the plant's location has caused a shuffle that will likely end up affecting some people who use the community gardens at Eagle Heights. The university plans to relocate several research plots used by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, which are being displaced by the plant, to an area east of Eagle Heights that overlaps the site of the gardens. About an acre of the gardens' current 8.5-acre space will be forfeited to the CALS plots.
Administrators have envisioned a new plant for several years, recognizing that planned new laboratories and facilities will increase power needs. The university and Madison Gas and Electric joined to design a 150-megawatt facility, which is proposed for a 4.5-acre site at Walnut Street and Herrick Drive, just north of an existing heating plant. If approved, the plant will generate heating and air-conditioning for campus's expanding west side, as well as electricity for some Madison homes.
But the plant's location has caused a shuffle that will likely end up affecting some people who use the community gardens at Eagle Heights. The university plans to relocate several research plots used by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, which are being displaced by the plant, to an area east of Eagle Heights that overlaps the site of the gardens. About an acre of the gardens' current 8.5-acre space will be forfeited to the CALS plots.
"We spent a lot of time meeting and talking with people to try to come up with a plan that has the least impact on all users," says Gary Brown '84, interim assistant director for planning. He says the university will open a half acre of land near University Houses, located west of Eagle Heights, to offset some of the lost space. An oversight committee, comprising representatives from planning, housing, the campus natural areas, CALS, and the gardeners, has been formed to manage the gardens, and Brown says that group can help assure that Housing residents and other students, faculty, and staff have priority in using the space.
Gardeners realize that there are many interests competing for limited space, says graduate student Kathleen Arrington, a member of the Eagle Heights garden committee. But she adds, "We hope that this is not just the beginning of further reductions in garden space. We'd like to be viewed as a legitimate student organization that can work with the university." She says she is cautiously optimistic that the new arrangement will benefit the gardens in the long run by formalizing their relationship to the university's mission.
Gardeners realize that there are many interests competing for limited space, says graduate student Kathleen Arrington, a member of the Eagle Heights garden committee. But she adds, "We hope that this is not just the beginning of further reductions in garden space. We'd like to be viewed as a legitimate student organization that can work with the university." She says she is cautiously optimistic that the new arrangement will benefit the gardens in the long run by formalizing their relationship to the university's mission.
