UW–Madison’s Rohr Chabad House has proposed a five-story expansion that would alleviate space shortages in its own facilities and help remedy the off-campus housing crunch, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
The addition to the current building, which would overlook Peace Park on Gilman Street near State Street, would necessitate the demolition of an aging home next door. The Chabad House’s first expansion, finished in 2018, followed a multiyear process that also involved demolishing a historic home.
An increasing number of Jewish UW–Madison students seeking Chabad services and attending events is helping to drive the need for expansion. Roughly 10% of UW–Madison students are Jewish, consisting of around 4,200 undergraduates and 800 graduate students.
The expansion plan’s details are fluid; the number of floors proposed, currently five, could change; preliminary plans also include a 7,000-square-foot main hall, a library that could function as a sanctuary for prayer services, staff offices, a meeting room, and an undetermined number of housing units on the top two floors. These units would not be exclusively for college students who are Jewish but would be designed for students who want to keep kosher; the kitchen would allow for total separation of meat and dairy products and include two prep spaces and more than one oven, sink, and dishwasher.
Chabad could start construction as early as 2025 if it receives city approvals and raises the needed funding by that time.
