The Memorial Union soon will be easier to navigate – both on foot and by wheelchair.

A $7-million renovation is scheduled to begin within the next few years, said Kathy Svec, marketing coordinator of the Memorial Union.

The Students Special Fees Committee has committed $5.26 per student per semester to raise the initial $3.1 million needed to begin the work, Svec said. Additional funding likely will come through bonding and borrowing, she said.

Svec said the most noticeable change will be the creation of a ramp at the Union’s southwest entrance leading from Lincoln Way.

The current entrance has lots of steps, she said, and people in wheelchairs cannot access the doors.

“You truly could not get in this way,” she said.

The plan also includes the installation of two elevators – one at the west entrance and one that will take passengers directly from the parking ramp to the main part of the building, Svec said.

The general information center, which also serves as the hotel check-in counter, will be changed as well, she said.

“We hope to relocate it so it is more centrally located,” Svec said.

Other renovations include a new entrance to the University Book Store from the north side and several new hallways to achieve more direct routes to the Sun Room and the South Ballroom, she said.

Svec said renovations are being considered for a number of reasons.

“We need to make continual progress to upgrading the building to meet ADA requirements,” she said. The Americans With Disabilities Act requires public institutions to accommodate handicaps of all kinds.

The primary mission of the Memorial Union is to serve the students – and the renovations are for their benefit, Svec said.

“We feel the students deserve a state-of-the-art facility to meet current needs and current codes,” she said.

The Union will hire an architect this fall to set the renovations in motion, she said. They expect to be ready to begin tearing the walls down in the next two to three years.

The renovations are in addition to the ground-floor remodeling, which was completed in 1996.

Steve Medanic, finance director for the Government of the Student Body, said the money put forth by the students will come out of fees students pay each year.

“[The renovations are funded by] designated tuition put aside to be used for the renovation,” he said.

Tuition and student fees will not increase because of the pledge to give money, Medanic said.