{"id":11401,"date":"2024-10-09T09:18:09","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T14:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=11401"},"modified":"2024-10-09T09:18:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T14:18:09","slug":"sonnentags-vision-made-new-uwec-facility-possible","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/sonnentags-vision-made-new-uwec-facility-possible\/","title":{"rendered":"Sonnentags’ vision made new UWEC facility possible"},"content":{"rendered":"
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John and Carolyn Sonnentag\u2019s shared vision of an event center in Eau Claire is providing University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire students with a world-class venue for athletics and the community with a facility that can attract national events to the Chippewa Valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The weeklong celebration of The Sonnentag\u2019s opening was highlighted by the Sept. 12 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $122 million facility on the banks of the Chippewa River.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis project has far exceeded my expectations,\u201d John Sonnentag says. \u201cThank you to everyone who helped in any way with building this marvelous complex.\u201d<\/p>\n

Construction on the building started in spring 2022 after the Sonnentags, both UW-Eau Claire alumni who met and married while at the university, donated cash and land valued at $70 million. The Sonnentags\u2019 gift is the largest in university history and among the largest ever given to a regional public university in the country. UW-Eau Claire students, Pablo Foundation, the city of Eau Claire and Xcel Energy also were either financial or in-kind donors to the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has truly taken a cast of thousands to bring this magnificent facility to life, but none of us would be here this afternoon had it not been for the generosity of two amazing Blugolds,\u201d Chancellor James Schmidt says. \u201cThe Sonnentags\u2019 love for UW-Eau Claire and their desire to create wonderful opportunities for our students never wavered during this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 225,900-square-foot complex includes the Sonnentag Event Center, the John and Carolyn Sonnentag Fieldhouse, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire\u2019s Center for Health and Wellbeing and the Mayo Clinic Health System Diagnostic Imaging and Sports Medicine Center.<\/p>\n

The amenities in The Sonnentag will forever change the landscape of UW-Eau Claire and the entire community, Schmidt says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuildings are wonderful and this place is in a class by itself, but life isn\u2019t really about buildings, it\u2019s about people, the people you meet and the partnerships you forge,\u201d Schmidt says. \u201cAs I stand here today, I can proudly say that the Sonnentags have changed my life. I can proudly say that the Sonnentags, with their gift, will change the lives of thousands of Blugolds and future Blugolds who come to enjoy, make connections and maybe even meet future husbands, wives, business partners and lifelong friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

John and Carolyn Sonnentag wanted the facility to have a \u201cwow factor\u201d for visitors and they were not disappointed in the project that took a decade to become reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we are under budget, on schedule and, wow, what a complex,\u201d John Sonnentag says.<\/p>\n

Over the past 60 years County Concrete Co. was blessed to have a national customer base that allowed the Sonnentags to contribute to the project, Carolyn Sonnentag says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis building may have our name on it, but without the leadership and continued growth of our business, this could not have been possible,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The Sonnentag building originally was planned as a replacement for 70-year-old Zorn Arena on campus, but evolved into the largest indoor event venue in northwest Wisconsin that has \u201cfar, far exceeded the vision,\u201d says Kimera Way, president of the Eau Claire Community Complex, the entity that owns the Sonnentag facilities.\u00a0The building will accommodate multiple types of events, including being home to the university\u2019s men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball games and other athletic tournaments, indoor concerts and other entertainment or sports events.<\/p>\n

Jason Verdugo, UW-Eau Claire\u2019s director of athletics, told the Sonnentags at the ceremony that their generosity will impact the athletic department and student athletes for years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best way we can honor your family is by what we do day in and day out, how we compete, how we practice, our commitment to the Blugold standard,\u201d Verdugo says. \u201cI think everyone knows that standard is excellence, so my vow to you is that we will do our very best to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Sonnentag will be a key driver for economic development, bringing new activity and investment into the Chippewa Valley, says Dave Minor, president and CEO of the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce. The facility\u2019s opening will offer new opportunities for events, conventions and partnerships from throughout the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sonnentag Center really represents far more than just a building,\u201d Minor says. \u201cIt\u2019s a symbol of what we can do when vision meets opportunity, when education, business and community come together for a shared purpose. This facility will serve as the hub for sports, recreation, entertainment and innovation enhancing the quality of life here in the Chippewa Valley region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan Market, retired chair of the board of directors for Market & Johnson, the primary contactor on the project, noted the economic impact the construction phase had on the Eau Claire community. A total of 55 subcontractors paid $38 million in construction wages and benefits to 700 employees who worked 375,000 hours on the two-year building project.<\/p>\n

Before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Korinne Haeffel, director of U.S. market transformation and development for the U.S. Green Building Council, announced that The Sonnentag has received gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for its emphasis on environmental sustainability and its WELL Health-Safety Rating. The Sonnentag is the largest LEED gold-certified facility of its type in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the third largest in the Midwest, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Among the complex\u2019s sustainability features are 190 vertical geothermal wells using 36 miles of piping to heat and cool the building. The building is fully electric with Xcel Energy providing power from a local, offsite solar facility.<\/div>\n
\u201cBuildings should never just be something that keeps the weather out,\u201d Haeffel says. \u201cThis building exemplifies the idea that buildings should be catalysts, not only for the work that happens within them, but for the greater community. This team, the public-private partnerships, the investments that have been made, clearly do that extraordinarily well.\u201dUW-Eau Claire students initiated the LEED certification discussion and financially supported the application and participation in the process. Students also are paying segregated fees toward operation of The Sonnentag.\u201cThe opening of The Sonnentag marks a new period for not only our campus, but the Eau Claire community as a whole,\u201d says Sam Consiglio, student body president. \u201cIt symbolizes collaboration and connection, a place for athletics teams to feel supported and students can root for their peers, a place where we can partner with Mayo and continue to expand the health of our city and a place where people can come together and engage in events throughout Eau Claire.\u201cAside from being a state-of-the-art facility, the room for connection, collaboration and building a sense of belonging in community is just as present, creating a space where students, faculty and community members can collaborate and build connections.\u201d<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Written by UW-Eau Claire<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwec.edu\/stories\/sonnentags-vision-made-new-facility-possible<\/a><\/p>\n

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The weeklong celebration of The Sonnentag\u2019s opening was highlighted by the Sept. 12 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $122 million facility on the banks of the Chippewa River. \u201cThis project has far exceeded my expectations,\u201d John Sonnentag says. \u201cThank you to everyone who helped in any way with building this marvelous complex.\u201d Construction on the building […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":11404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[96],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-11401","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-eau-claire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/11401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=11401"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=11401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}