Disappointment from UWL Chancellor for state’s choice not to fund phase 2 of science center

It was a mixed bag for UW-La Crosse when it came time for the state Joint Finance Committee to rule on funds for construction projects in the UW System.

There will be money to renovate Graff Hall and the Field House at UW-L, but Phase 2 of the Prairie Springs Science Center, which would have been $83 million, was left out.

The fight, however, is not over.

“It would have taken the next two years to do the planning in any case,” UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow said. “We’ll continue to be aggressive in educating the legislature on why it should be included in the next biennium.”

The new building opened in the fall of 2018, featuring all of the bells and whistles necessary to teach science curriculum in 2019. Gow, however, said that’s not the case at worn and dated Cowley Hall.

“The classrooms we have now at Cowley were built in 1964 and 1965,” Gow said. “They haven’t kept in the advances for how science is taught these days.”

Gow added that they are pleased for the funds they were able to get, adding students are excited about the Field House renovation.