Gov. Tony Evers included funding for several building projects on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus – including a proposed $129.5 million chemistry building and long-planned student union renovation – in his capital budget released this week.
The governor’s capital budget proposal calls for funding for the university’s planned 130,100-square-foot chemistry/bio-chemistry facility, which would replace its aging existing chemistry building at 3210 N. Cramer St. on the west side of campus.
The new building, which would include labs for undergraduate STEM research and collaborative areas, is planned just west of the new Lubar Entrepreneurship Center at North Maryland Avenue and East Kenwood Boulevard.
Construction could begin on the project in April 2023 with completion in June 2025, according to budget documents.
Also included in the governor’s capital budget is $40.7 million for the renovation of a 203,400-square-foot portion of UWM’s student union. The project is aimed at addressing the most pressing maintenance needs for the 328,000-square-foot building.
UWM’s student union dates back to 1956 and portions of the building are anywhere between 32 and 56 years old. UWM has worked with consultants three times over the past decade on potential solutions for the building, which has been given a “D” rating for function and “F” for condition, according to the university. Renovation work is expected to begin in March 2023 for completion in June 2025.
Evers also backs a $7 million request to build a gymnasium and shell space addition to the Klotsche Center at 3409 N. Downer Ave. The 16,400-square-foot addition would be built east of the current complex.
The 125,000-square-foot Klotsche Center was built in 1975 and the 134,700-square-foot pavilion was added in 2003. The indoor rec facility is the practice and competition venue for the women’s basketball and volleyball programs. The facility is currently over-used, which limits recreational offerings and presents scheduling conflicts, the budget documents said. Construction is expected to begin in September 2021, with completion in December 2023.
One of UWM’s project requests – $103.3 million for the planning and construction of a new engineering building – was deferred in the budget proposal. The proposed 90,000-square-foot building would replace the campus’s current 108,000-square-foot physics building, which would be demolished, and become the home for the biomedical engineering program. It would also create new instructional spaces for the electrical, environmental, industrial and mechanical engineering programs.
The university said the existing physics building, completed in 1964, requires extensive renovation work, including nearly replacing the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.
While the project request was deferred, the capital budget would allocate $1 million in funds for planning work related to the project.
