UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

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Karges Center deconstruction scheduled to begin Monday

 

May 18, 2018 – Formal deconstruction work on the R.A. Karges Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls will begin on Monday, May 21, weather permitting.

Karges Center had served as the home for the university’s Health and Human Performance and Athletics departments, as well as many of its athletic teams, since 1960. Last fall’s opening of the Falcon Center for Health, Education and Wellness gave all these programs new homes. Deconstruction of the 58-year-old building is considered one of the final phases of the Falcon Center project.

The iconic sculpture, “The Falcon,” which has graced the north exterior wall of the R.A. Karges Center since 1962, was recently removed from Karges and will be reinstalled on the Falcon Center later this month. A campus-wide vote was held last fall to determine the new home for the sculpture, with the Falcon Center the overwhelming choice.

Crews are expcted to begin work on the deconstruction at 8 a.m. with the work taking approximately two months to complete. University staff asks users of Cascade Avenue near the building to “pardon our mess” while the deconstruction takes place.

When complete, the present site of Karges Center will become green space for student and university use, emphasizing both the university’s commitment to sustainability as well as contributing to the pleasant environment of one of the UW’s most beautiful campuses. 

The legacy of Professor R. A. Karges who served as a faculty member and basketball coach at UW-River Falls in the early 1900s will live on in the Falcon Center as well, with the Karges name having been preserved in the new facility. The auxiliary gym in the Falcon Center, a multi-purpose space that serves students in all areas, academic, recreation and athletics, in fact already bears the name R.A. Karges.

 

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