It is midday and Truax’s cafeteria kitchen is buzzing with the clinking of hot pans and sharp objects. Voices and the traffic of food preparation compete for attention. The cafeteria staff and the culinary students are not strangers to sharing space, but over the course of the next two years, the culinary program will get a space of its own.
Rather than the new building initially planned for the program, it will be moving to the Downtown Campus.
In April 2012, the Madison College District Board had planned to fund a separate building for the culinary program with excess referendum money. Construction would have taken place on a section of the existing parking lot at the corner of Wisconsin Ave. and E. Johnson St.
After reviewing the bids and contingency fees for the project, the college decided that the funds would be better spent renovating a portion of the downtown campus for the culinary program instead.
As reported in the Wisconsin State Journal in mid-March, the $14.6 million cost for a new building exceeded the school board’s budget by $2.6 million.
Mike Stark, Madison College’s director of facility services, has overseen coordination for the project since its conception.
“Taking a step back now, it does make more sense financially to develop and remodel the existing building,” he said.
The program shares space with the cafeteria staff, and it has been difficult to hold classes in the same area where food is being prepared. The advantages of renovating an existing building include lower maintenance costs and operational expenses such as heating and cooling. It also offers a more flexible timeline that is able to respond to budget realities.
“We can string it out and we can budget our money easier as opposed to having a huge lump sum all at once,” Stark said.
The culinary program will occupy approximately 30,000 square feet of the 1950s portion of the Downtown Campus. First, that space will be vacated and then renovations specific to the program will proceed.
Stark expects the renovation process to start in January 2014 and for the space to be ready for instruction by January 2015.
“The biggest difference they will notice is the amount of space they will have,” Stark said.
Culinary Program Director Paul Short is well-acquainted with making do on little space. He expressed satisfaction with the upcoming move. Even if it isn’t a stand-alone building, the change in plans do not dissapoint him.
“If they can take an older building and remodel it to what our needs are, they’ve done their job. That’s what I want,” Short said.
Since becoming program director in 2007, he’s seen an increase in students interested in the culinary program. In light of the new location, he anticipates fewer interruptions upon moving to the downtown campus.
“It’s almost impossible for our students sometimes to listen to what the chef is telling them,” Short said.
Culinary students and instructors expect that the move downtown will enhance the learning experience by offering proximity to some of Madison’s best restaurants.
Second year culinary student David Rodriguez was looking forward to the new building as a home for future students, but he saw the change of plans as positive.
“I think its a good thing because it’s going to cost a lot less to renovate,” Rodriguez said.
“A renovated building is better than no building at all.”