UWM plans $75 million academic building on east side campus

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is planning another major building project that has been overshadowed by its numerous other real estate projects.
UWM plans to build a 5- to 6-story, 150,000 to 200,000-square-foot  integrated research complex building at the northwest corner of Kenwood Boulevard and Maryland Avenue at the school’s main campus on the east side of Milwaukee.
The facility will provide integrated space for academic departments for research and collaboration including the physics, biology, geology and chemistry departments.
“It’s a very important project for UWM,” said David Miller, associate vice president of capital planning for UW system. “This will be a cornerstone building at UWM. It’s a very large project. It’s the first large academic building built on the campus in 20 years.”
The facility will be the first of a three-phase project to redevelop the entire block with 500,000 square feet of new building space, Miller said. Groundbreaking for the project is expected in 2012, he said.
The project is one of several building projects that will be funded by the $240 million that was allocated for UWM building projects in the last state budget. Each project still needs to be approved by the state legislature. Other projects include the proposed Freshwater Sciences facility, the proposed engineering campus in Wauwatosa, the School of Public Health project and the planned purchase and redevelopment of the Columbia Hospital complex.