MADISON, Wis. -- An era of construction that will transform the face of much of the university's landscape is starting on the UW campus.

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It's part of the UW Campus Master Plan, and its designers hope it will guide the evolution of the university years down the road.

For those who frequent the campus, massive construction downtown can be a nuisance.

"I've been here for three years, and it's always like this," said UW graduate student Zhijun Chen.

"It's overwhelming; there's a whole lot of it going on at once. They could break it into more manageable size for the whole campus," said Thomas Frank, who works near the construction of the new microbial sciences building.

UW senior Cassie Dabel said that while new facilities are great, the constant construction can get annoying.

"I think it's beautiful what they're doing, but I think it's really frustrating how it's always constantly going," Dabel said. "The natatorium is all torn up right now, and the road is just a mess there. I mean, it's great, but it's frustrating, and I just wish they would stop."

But there are no plans to stop the massive construction projects. In fact, they are just beginning.

"By this June of 2006, we'll have 10 construction projects worth about $600 million actively in progress on campus," said Alan Fish, associate vice chancellor for UW Facilities Planning and Management.

The UW is just starting its master plan that will transform the campus landscape during the next 20 years and beyond.

Big changes will be made to all parts of campus, including adding more density with high-rise buildings and more residence halls in the lakeshore area.

A major transformation will take place in the east campus area to include a mall.

The south and west campus will also see drastic changes as the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery takes its place off Randall Street, and the UW Hospital and medical campus add more buildings and takes out all surface parking.

"At the end of the day, we actually believe we will be able to add up to 700 million square feet on campus because it's more dense space, and we'll be able to add 17 acres of green space at the same time," said Fish.

Fish said all of the construction is necessary to stay a competitive university.

"In order to do that, we think having a great physical plant in this tremendous location with 4 miles of lakeshore, we believe (is) one of the greatest assets we can give to the next generation of people who are trying to recruit students, faculty and staff to come to Wisconsin," said Fish.

Those who are already at UW know things will change, but hope they'll recognize their alma mater in the future.

"This is my first year at the university, so some of the things that I know now are in a couple of years not going to be the same. But that doesn't really bother me that they're going to be changing it," said freshman Desire Vincent.

"It's nice what they're doing, but they're always going to find more and more to do," said Dabel. "There's something to be said about history and the buildings that are here. I'd kind of like to see some of the stuff stay."

This is the most construction that's happened on campus since the 1960s, and UW said the work needs to happen now because many of the buildings erected then are falling apart.

They hope that with careful planning, the newly constructed and renovated buildings will last well into the future.

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