Adam RollinsThis story was originally published in the Government Contracting Pipeline newsletter from Strategic Partnerships, Inc. To have the latest government contracting news stories from across the country delivered straight to your inbox, click here to subscribe.
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (UWLC) will spend $194.5 million to finish a science center and demolish the original science facility. The university will finish the second phase of the Prairie Springs Science Center project with a final building addition and full replacement of Crowley Hall. Construction is expected to begin in June 2026.
Crowley Hall – the university’s primary science center since 1963 – no longer provides the adequate learning space and environment needed to support UWLA’s educational needs. The hall is structurally unfit for renovation, has a 12-foot floor-to-ceiling height, no fire suppression system or compartmentalization and has an insufficient structural floor loading capacity.
The second phase of the Prairie Springs Science Center project will complete the building with additional laboratories and educational support spaces. Plans include additional classrooms, offices, a greenhouse, observatory, specimen museum, animal care facility and maker space. The project will seamlessly integrate the building addition with the rest of the parent structure, including laboratory exhaust, fresh air intake, emergency power and noise and vibration isolation.
The 194,000-square-foot building addition will include nine general-access classrooms that can hold between 50 and 150 students each. The project will also build three 84-station active learning classrooms and instructional laboratories for STEM education. The university will outfit classrooms with demonstration, preparation and storage spaces.
The project will build 13 instructional laboratories for STEM faculty and students. Plans include building specialized laboratory and research spaces, including a mycology laboratory, an at-grade level greenhouse and rooftop observatory.
The university will also build several computational spaces, a computer science engineering lab, an animal care facility, a maker laboratory, testing areas, conference rooms and a faculty resource area. The facility will feature STEM departmental offices and homes alongside individual faculty office areas.
Photo courtesy Michael Barera
