Milwaukee’s economy could get a big shot in the arm. Gov. Jim Doyle announced Monday that the state plans to move forward on some major building projects at UWM. WUWM’s Marti Mikkelson has more.
In February, the Governor unveiled his state budget proposal for the next two years. On Monday, he rolled out his capital budget, or building plan. It includes $240 million dollars for UW-Milwaukee over the next five to six years.
Doyle says the money would help pay for several projects that have been in the planning stages at UWM. Those include expansion of the Great Lakes Research Facility, located in the Milwaukee harbor.
“One of the greatest needs in the world in the 21st century will be clean water, and the Milwaukee area is home to over 120 water related companies, including five of the eleven largest firms in the world. UWM is positioned to create the graduates these businesses need as well as partner with those firms in developing new and innovative technologies related to water. UWM is also positioned to teach the next generation of scientists how to protect our great freshwater assets here in Wisconsin and across the globe,” Doyle says.
More than 200 people attended the Governor’s announcement at the research facility. One was Val Klump, head of the Great Lakes Water Institute. He says a priority will be to replace the Neeskay research vessel with a new one.
“Neeskay is 57 years old. It’s been a great boat. It’s done a yeoman’s job in studying the Great Lakes, but it’s past its prime, more than past its prime. The Great Lakes deserve a state of the art research vessel, one that can be built right here in Wisconsin and that’s what we’d like to see happen,” Klump says.
Some of the money would also help fund a School of Freshwater Science, a College of Engineering in Wauwatosa and a School of Public Health in downtown Milwaukee. State Rep. Jon Richards of Milwaukee says he’s thrilled about that. He chairs the Assembly Committee on Health.
“We are second in the nation in terms of incidents of asthma. If you look at our chronic disease and infant mortality rates, we are very, very low, some of the worst rates in the entire country, so the School of Public Health will be a vitally important investment here,” Richards says.
The State Building Commission will take a look at the plan next. Then it goes to the Joint Finance Committee and the full Legislature. If approved, UWM would also have to raise some of the money on its own.
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