MADISON (WKOW) – Dane County is planning an expansion of the Alliant Energy Center’s Expo Hall and a renovation of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum with construction to begin as soon as 2026.
Dane County Executive Melissa Agard made the announcement at a Thursday morning breakfast at the Edgewater Hotel in Madison hosted by Downtown Madison, Inc.
Agard said the planned projects are about investing in the iconic building to attract more events.
“I look forward to being able to deliver on the promise that I have made to my community, because they have reached up and said, ‘We want this to happen,’” Agard said. “The almost 10 year process of the redevelopment committee, and the work that has been happening, led by county board supervisors and other people within our community has been vital in getting us to this point, but now it's time for us to start acting.”
Agard said the projects will be financed through a public-private partnership where an outside organization could negotiate some degree of control over the Coliseum in exchange for building improvements.
The county plans to request proposals from interested parties this year. Agard construction could begin as soon as 2026 and complete in 2027. 27 News asked Agard if the proposals would lead to any alterations of the Coliseum’s iconic corrugated roof.
“My hope is that folks come forward with proposals that honor the footprint that is there,” Agard said. “We're not talking about tearing it down and starting over. We're talking about revitalizing the footprint that exists.”
This is not the first time an expansion of the Alliant Energy Center will go out for a request for proposal. A similar effort earlier in the decade ultimately failed to progress to construction.
View the original story at wkow.com.