Millions proposed for research efforts: Doyle plan would aid Medical College, help UWM build engineering campus
BYLINE: Tom Daykin and John Schmid, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mar. 20--Gov. Jim Doyle on Monday proposed giving more than $14 million in new state funding to several Milwaukee-area projects that could enhance the region's aspirations to become a high-tech research hub.
The biggest share of the funds would go to an effort to cluster key research institutions around the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center in Wauwatosa, creating a critical mass of engineering and medical research institutions that can generate patents, technology and start-up companies.
In a news conference at the site of the former Pabst brewery complex downtown, Doyle laid out key parts of his proposed capital construction budget for the next two years:
--$10 million for the Medical College of Wisconsin, which anchors the county's research park. The funds would go to a new center for medical imaging and scanning, creating the nation's third such imaging research hub and supporting the existing industrial strength in the region created by the presence of GE Healthcare, a global manufacturer of medical imaging equipment.
--$3 million to help the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee build an entirely new and expanded engineering campus near the Medical College. UWM, the state's second-largest university after UW-Madison, has outgrown its outdated engineering facilities in its landlocked campus on the east side.
--$300,000 in capital funds, plus $200,000 in operating funds, to create detailed plans for the future UWM School of Public Health, which would be developed in or near downtown Milwaukee.
--$800,000 for environmental cleanup work at the former Pabst site. UWM's public health campus could include facilities at the Pabst site and other nearby locations, including Aurora Sinai Medical Center.
The new research campus "will be an incredible economic engine for the region, and the entire state," Doyle said. The Democratic governor argued that Wisconsin's economy depends on a revitalized Milwaukee-area economy.
"Instead of little pockets of research around the city, this creates a critical mass," said UWM spokesman Tom Luljak.
The funds, which are part of Doyle's operating and capital budget proposals, need legislative approval. The capital budget was recommended for approval Monday by the state Building Commission, which includes both Republican and Democratic legislators.
"The governor places a priority on fostering collaborative efforts between all the institutions in southeastern Wisconsin that are doing the kinds of research that will lead to commercial applications and create jobs for the region," Doyle spokesman Matt Canter said.
The funds announced Monday are separate from an $8 million increase in UWM's research budget, which Doyle announced in February. This year's slate of funding promises, if approved by state lawmakers, follows years of stagnant or falling state support for UWM.
UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago said in January that he wanted to establish a new downtown campus for a public health school, and programs in nursing, psychology and other health disciplines. UWM doesn't now have a public health school.
Santiago had also said UWM cannot expand any further on its existing campus.
But with an expansion near the Medical College, UWM plans to conduct research in sectors that are competitive for the local economy, including advanced automation, a sector that has emerged from the city's industrial legacy, and biomedical engineering, a discipline that grew out of the proximity of GE Healthcare.
Since his arrival in Milwaukee less than three years ago, Santiago has argued that no major metropolitan economy has been competitive without a research university at its core, and that Milwaukee's current research infrastructure is insufficient to catalyze its transformation from heavy industry.
For UWM, the new funding amounts to "an important first step" in the university's proposed expansion, said Rita Cheng, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. University officials would use the money to create detailed plans for the new engineering campus and public health school, she said.
They also act as an "endorsement" for UWM's expansion and research plans, Luljak said. Santiago was absent from Monday's announcement, Luljak said, because he was traveling out of state to meet with a potential donor.
Looking at sites
As they scout for sites for the new engineering college, UWM officials are looking at county-owned sites near the Highway 45 and W. Watertown Plank Road interchange for the engineering college's new home, Luljak said.
That area houses the Milwaukee County Research Park, a tech-oriented business park that includes GE Healthcare. It also is home to the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, which includes the Medical College, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and Froedtert Hospital.
The governor's grant to accelerate the environmental cleanup work at the former Pabst brewery complex, on downtown's northwest side, has special meaning for Milwaukee's economy.
The Pabst site, a campus of empty and hulking buildings, was once home to one of the nation's biggest breweries. Today, they are merely a dark reminder of industrial decline.
The environmental grant has already been given to Pabst site owner Joseph Zilber, who in January started doing environmental cleanup and demolition work at the former brewery. Zilber will sell portions of the Pabst property to other developers, who plan to create housing, offices and other new uses.
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