MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, chair of the Wisconsin State Building Commission, Friday announced the Commission approved a comprehensive budget adjustment for various University of Wisconsin (UW) System projects and authority to construct two important projects. “While it’s unfortunate that these reallocations to help support UW campuses across our state were unnecessarily delayed, I’m glad they were finally approved today to ensure these critical projects can move forward,” said Gov. Evers. “Our UW System is a central part of Wisconsin’s ability to compete in recruiting, training, and retaining a talented workforce, and it is absolutely essential that we support the UW’s important work, from these projects to robust state investments in our next budget.” The Commission’s approval of key projects today comes as Republican lawmakers on the Commission last month delayed reallocating over $70 million, made available due to other projects the Commission previously approved coming in under budget, toward critical UW System building projects that were likewise already approved by the Commission. The Commission today approved reallocating funding to support the below projects the Commission already approved:
- $29 million for an expanded UW-Madison engineering building to address critical infrastructure and facility needs, expand enrollment, degrees, and program offerings, modernize classrooms and instructional and research laboratories, and to support its goal of increasing student enrollment by 1,000 in the engineering program;
- $10.5 million for the Winther Hall/Heide Hall Entry additions and renovations at UW-Whitewater to resolve infrastructure deficiencies and improve instructional and departmental spaces throughout the facility;
- $5.4 million for the completion of Heritage Hall at UW-Stout, creating a new, unified home for the College of Arts and Human Sciences by consolidating and co-locating spaces across several facilities; and
- A Small Project funding release to help address the backlog of maintenance and repair projects across the state.
The Building Commission is chaired by Gov. Evers and comprised of the following members:
- State Sen. Brad Pfaff;
- State Sen. Mary Felzkowski;
- State Sen. André Jacque;
- State Rep. Jill Billings;
- State Rep. Rob Swearingen;
- State Rep. Robert Wittke; and
- Citizen Member Barb Worcester.
