What's next for the UWSP-Wausau campus?

County leaders will decide this week about their approach to the campus's redevelopment

One of the stories I really think was glossed over in the press at large was UWSP-Wausau’s announcement that it was leaving its downtown campus.

The move came as a surprise for a number of reasons. There was an ongoing debate about what to do with the old dorm that wasn’t being used anymore, and a request for proposals for new users. (That came after the New Beginnings group proposed using it for a shelter for new refugees.) The county had just moved the parks department onto the campus. Other co-locators were being looked at.

It also was not a shock. In a meeting late last year, UWSP leaders revealed that they were only using 21% of the total campus. Enrollment, while showing some signs of improving, was a shell of its former self.

So the announcement that UWSP-Wausau would move to the NorthCentral Technical College campus was a surprise but not a shock.

But the announcement leaves a number of questions, and many of those were asked at a county meeting earlier this month. County leaders will be meeting Thursday (details below) to potentially make a decision on how to handle the campus closure. More on that below.

Some considerations:

• Could the job center move there? Brian Kalish, executive director of the North Central Wisconsin Workforce Development Board told county leaders that the current job center, located on Grand Avenue, is set to be demolished and turned into an assisted living facility. He floated the idea of moving the jobs center to campus.

• What will happen to the Veninga Theater and the UW Center for Civic Engagement? Several speakers voiced their concerns about the theater and the center, which also contains WIPPS (Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service) and Wisconsin Public Radio. That portion of campus is much newer than the other buildings. The Veninga Theater became the de facto home of Wausau Community Theatre and other local performance groups; it’s a more affordable option than the Grand Theater, whose prices got out of the reach of smaller organizations.

• A new proposal from the Community Foundation? Tim Parker, CEO of the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin talking about submitting a proposal to turn part of the campus into the Marathon Center for Arts and Culture, creating a home for some of the arts organizations which have struggled as of late. He even suggested a potential partnership with the job center as well.

The buildings

Deputy County Administrator Chris Holman gave an overview of the buildings and their condition. Here is the breakdown of the buildings on campus: