Camp Randall, University of Wisconsin

When the University of Wisconsin decided to make sweeping changes to it's beloved Camp Randall stadium, they had to get the most for their dollar and have it ready for the '05 season.  With good weather, general contractor Cullen-Smith pushed the opening up by four months to be ready for the '04 season.  hillcraft responded to this challenge in approximately 8 month to provide design assistance, value engineering, shop drawings and product delivery.  We were on an extremely fast track to have everything completed by the first home game September 4, 2004.

Delivery began in March on the north section of the project consisting of the coaches' offices, 72 private suites, the Buckingham Club and the Varsity Club areas.  Construction continued south eventually ending at Kellner Hall, which houses the athletic directors and all of the administrative area.

Some of the challenges were short lead times, design/build on areas as they became available , as well as staying within the budget.  Since the stadium is a true bowl design it created many areas where walls were not at typical 45 or 90- degree angles.  There was a lot of templating and additional field measuring required ensuring the casework was manufactured correctly the firt time.  A tremendous amount of time was spent coordinating deliveries due to limited acess to elevators and entries, as well as providing the installation team with product as the rooms became available.

The project consisted of cherry cabinetry in the coach's office, maple cabinets in the private suites, laminate and maple components in the Buckinghan and Varsity Clubs seating areas, window sills, laminate casework in the common areas and offices, lackers in the Visitors locker room, and custom maple reception desks with Indus red Zodiac countertops.  We also provided maple and the Indus red Zodiac wall panels in the "WOW" room, where visitors, including recruits are brought to get a first perspective on Badger football.

Custom cherry cabinets with etched glass were built for the head coach's office.  As a certified installer and fabricator for Dupont's solid surface products, we installed the Zodiac tops and panels.

We want to thank all of our suppliers for their cooperation with on-time shipments, which allowed us to stay on schedule.  We also want to thank Cullen-Smith for how they managed this project.  At times up to 600 workers were on the site at once.  Major kudos to Jim Schumacher and Jeremy Shecterle from JP Cullen, and Jerry Wheaton and Justin Schmitz from CD Smith for their great management skills.  It was truly a "team" effort put forth by all of the trades in completing this project in the accelerated time schedule. 

It was great working with you on Camp Randall!

Congratulations! Go Big Red!!

Project Team