Architects and engineers have been invited to
submit letters of interest for the $75 million project, Chancellor Bernie
Patterson announced at his State of the University address Aug. 28.
“This
building will realize a significant return on investment for the students of
UW-Stevens Point and for the taxpayers of Wisconsin,” Patterson said. “The new
facility will help us best prepare students for careers in today’s technology
and knowledge-based global economy.”
The
project’s economic impact is estimated at $144 million, according to a formula
cited by C3 Statistical Solutions to calculate construction industry impact.
The project will generate work for hundreds of construction trades, boosting
jobs in other sectors that service the workers throughout central and northern
Wisconsin.
The State
Division of Facilities Development began soliciting for architects and
engineers for the Chemistry Biology Science Building on Aug. 19. Architectural
teams have 30 days to submit letters of interest, and four will be interviewed.
The architect will be selected in November.
The project cleared a final hurdle in the state
Legislature this summer, with funding in the 2013-2015 biennium budget.
The 169,165-square-foot building will contain
educational labs, lecture halls and research facilities for biology and
chemistry. Flexible room configurations combined with modern technology will
support hands-on learning and student research, hallmarks of a UW-Stevens Point
education. The building will be constructed with a sustainable,
energy-conserving design with a goal of earning a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) gold rating.
The
design includes complex heating and ventilation systems. Just one fume hood,
used in chemistry and biology labs, uses BTUs (a measure of energy) equivalent
to three homes, said Carl Rasmussen, UW-Stevens Point director of
facilities planning.
The design will reclaim BTUs of exhausted air.
Because
of the complexity of the design, architectural planning will continue through
2014. Bids for the work are scheduled to be accepted in January 2015 with
construction beginning that spring.
Construction
is expected to take two years. “We anticipate it will be substantially complete
in May 2017. We’ll move in summer and hold classes in the fall of 2017,”
Rasmussen said.
The new science building is the largest
stand-alone construction project in the past 40 years. It will replace a
science facility built in 1963. The last major academic building project at
UW-Stevens Point was a 113,000-square-foot addition and remodeling of the College
of Fine Arts building, completed
in 2005.
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