University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's water school design could exceed

Daily Reporter (Milwaukee), Jun 10, 2010 by Sean Ryan

A $50 million budget the state approved for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences may not be enough to pay for the entire project.

The project would add a three- or four-story, 125,000-square- foot addition to the Great Lakes Research Facility, a university building on Greenfield Avenue that abuts the Port of Milwaukee. The envisioned project also includes interior renovations to the existing research facility and exterior improvements to the overall property.

The preliminary design for the project indicates the work may cost up to $60 million, said David Miller, UW System vice president of capital planning and budget. The UW Board of Regents on Thursday approved spending $1.6 million to continue drafting plans for the project, and during that process planners will get a better idea of what the projects’s actual cost will be, he said.

“Right now it is looking like $60 million, not the $50 (million) we have,” he said. “Is it 60? We don’t know.”

The university applied for a $15 million federal grant that would bridge any potential budget gaps, Miller said
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