The latest plans for the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery building to be constructed across from Union South were unveiled Monday at the first of three town hall meetings hosted by UW-Madison and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
The building will house the public Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and the private Morgridge Institute for Research on the 1300 block of University Avenue.
The site will act as a gateway between scientific disciplines on campus. It will bring together multiple sciences including biology, computer science and engineering with the potential for humanities as well.
We think it's one of the most exciting things that the university and WARF has ever been involved in,"" said Carl Gulbrandsen, WID/MIR building committee chair and WARF managing director.
Jeff French, an architect at Ballinger of Philadelphia - a company that partnered with Uihlein Wilson Architects of Milwaukee to design the building - said the public and private program-partnership model is ""virtually unparalleled.""
""We have looked at some of the premiere institutes for science in the world and this particular set of circumstances is truly unique,"" French said.
Gulbrandsen said the most important goal of the institutes is interdisciplinary collaborative research.
""The goal of both the donors of WARF and of the university is to help facilitate even more than we are able to presently in collaborative research throughout the campus,"" he said.
Plans call for a ""Vibrant Town Center"" for campus and research communities to come together on the first floor and three research floors split between the twin institutes.
Gulbrandsen said funding for the project initially came from Gov. Jim Doyle in November 2004 when he announced $50 million in state funding for WID.
UW-Madison alumni John and Tashia Morgridge matched the state's contribution with a $50 million donation to fund the MIR, which was followed by a $50 million match from WARF trustees.
The estimated cost of the building is $120 million, with a projected start date of construction in spring 2008.
Gulbrandsen said the renovation of Union South will lag the completion of WID/MIR by about a year, but the similar construction times provide opportunities to complement each other for meeting space, parking and possibly the inclusion of a hotel at the union for visiting faculty at WID/MIR to have an extended stay.
