Ethan Hack

Those keeping up with the Exponent’s reporting on campus physical development will recall the hotly anticipated Ottensman Hall renovation project noted in last year’s April 20, 2023 edition. However, in the UW System’s 2023-2025 Biennial Budget, the funding request for the Ottensman Hall project was deferred, further stalling it out for even longer.
As part of a recent series of bills regarding the Universities of Wisconsin, a new budget deal struck by Wisconsin lawmakers and the UW System within 2023 Senate Bill 895 grants funding for more capital projects on UW campuses. This bill acts as an amendment to the UW System’s 2023-2025 Capital Budget and provides funding for system wide renovations and demolitions and was enacted on March 6.
For UW-Platteville, this bill includes enumeration for Brigham Hall to be razed. The removal of this relic campus building was part of the original Ottensman Hall project, but due to the deferral, Brigham Hall is an upcoming standalone project.
Built in 1950, Brigham Hall was UW-Platteville’s first residence hall and first women’s residence hall. Its name is in dedication to Agnes Otis Brigham, a physical education instructor and coach for the Normal School from 1903-1941.
Prior to the construction of the original student center, which is now Ullsvik Hall, Brigham Hall also had a dining facility for its students. Brigham received a third floor just six years later in 1956. In the 1980s, it was converted for use as an academic support building and has housed various campus programs and operations since.
As some students may have noticed, Brigham Hall has been progressively emptied over the last two years with various campus functions such as the Registraris office, Cashier’s office, Financial Aid office and the Police office being moved to other buildings. These moves were presumably in anticipation for the building to be prepped for demolition.
Often noted within building condition reports, Brigham Hall’s design does not lend itself to being renovated or improved. Its layout from its days as a residence hall does not effectively serve the purpose of an academic office building, and its construction is not energy or space efficient.
Removing Brigham Hall also allows campus to save money in the long run. The building’s repair needs exceed 50% of the building value, and yearly maintenance and utility costs for such an inefficient building further pressure already tight budgets.
Brigham being razed would mark the first major campus demolition since Old Main was removed to make space for the Center for the Arts in 1981.
UW-Platteville also received funding through the original 2023-2025 Capital budget for two other projects. The first is for Williams Fieldhouse to have maintenance and repairs done to the building exterior and envelope.
The second project included within the original budget is the renovation of the Boebel biochemistry lab. Though Boebel recently was remodeled, the biochemistry lab renovations are an instructional space project, meaning that the funding is dedicated to upgrading the equipment and functionality of classrooms.