The next steps for the UWSP campus

Three things to start your week, also including Thomas Street development and a new plan for the Whitewater Music Hall building

County leaders last month were presented with two different options for the UWSP-Wausau campus now that the school is moving to Northcentral Technical College.

One option - hire a consultant to help design a plan for the 235,000 square-foot, multi-building expanse, which the school last year said they were only using 21% of.

The second option - just put out an RFP and let the community collaborate.

The joint Extension, Eduction and Economic Development, and HR, Finance and Property committees went with the second option.

The RFP comes with some parameters. Projects proposed must make use of an entire building or several buildings. The two committees will jointly evaluate and recommend proposals to the full county board. The timeline will be eight weeks long.

But perhaps the most interesting element - and one this reporter hasn’t seen before, or at least been aware of: The county will also host a walkthrough and open house to give the potential proposers a chance to collaborate.

The county does intend to apply for a grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, which could provide $2 million to help with the redevelopment, though questions remain about WEDC’s academic restrictions.

The collaboration approach is an interesting idea. It makes sense, given the sheer size of the very large campus.

The request for proposals still needs to be approved by the county board.

In the meantime, a UWSP official confirmed they would honor bookings at campus facilities including the Veninga Theater through 2026.

County’s Thomas Street property could see a similar RFP

The very last tenant of the former social services building on Grand Avenue is set to leave mid-summer, and that means the county can start collecting proposals for the property to get it back on the tax rolls.