Vote coming on request for additional $2.1 million to update UW-L’s 2nd oldest building

An extra $2.1 million is being requested by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse to renovate the school’s second oldest building.

At 11 a.m. Tuesday, a UW System committee will vote on the request for Wittich Hall.

That would put the revised budget at $26.7 million.

Reasons given for the increase included was a steep increase in the cost of structural steel, as well as the low unemployment rate which the developers say makes it harder to find capable workers willing to do construction.

The renovation will include a complete redo of the building’s interior.

It will be the new home of the College of Business Administration when the doors open in 2020. The building, built in 1916, was last updated in 1931.