Last week, athletes and alumni from the University of Wisconsin-Madison track and field program launched a petition opposing a redevelopment project threatening their training facilities and program’s reputation. The appeal follows the track venue’s demolition, which took place in August ahead of a planned USD $285,000,000 indoor football field.
As part of the Camp Randall Sports Center Redevelopment Project, the Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center, commonly referred to as “The Shell,” had a six-lane, 200m indoor track. The facility was reportedly in “poor” condition and hadn’t hosted competitions in a few years. The McClain Center, an adjacent training facility with a 90-yard turf field and a strength and conditioning centre, was also torn down to make way for a standard-sized field.
The Shell, which had stood since 1956, provided facilities that played a pivotal role contributing to the school’s impressive record of 140 B1G Ten team titles, 88 individual NCAA titles, and 30 Olympians. In February, the Wisconsin Badgers men’s team won the 2024 Big Ten Indoor championship title, while the women claimed sixth.
The new facility
The cold, snowy winters in Madison make it critical for the track team to have access to an indoor track facility. The athletics department’s promise of adequate training space in the new facility has raised doubts among alumni and athletes. Proposed designs unveil a third-level mezzanine with a 305-m track with a few lanes and a 100-m straightaway, but will not provide sufficient space for all event groups, will not accommodate any non-running events and is not suitable for competition.
“It’s hardly a track practice facility,” Ed Nuttycombe, former and highly decorated University of Wisconsin track coach, told The Cap Times. “It’s a recreational running path.” The new facility isn’t set to open until 2026.
The athletics department initiated the project in effort to keep the football program, which generates the most revenue, competitive with other programs for recruiting athletes. However, it will cause the track program to fall behind other schools in the region, whose facilities are designed for competition. Some students believe the redevelopment plans violate Title IX, a civil rights law enacted to prohibit sex-based discrimination in federally-funded education program.
