UW-L Foundation focuses on Centennial Campaign

UW-La Crosse's new academic building, tentatively named "Centennial Hall" is now the center of fundraising efforts for the UW-L Foundation's Centennial Campaign. "The Centennial Campaign is a comprehensive one. Right now, our main focus is on Centennial Hall," said Jackie Jensen-Utz, Development Officer for the UW-L Foundations. This is the first academic building project at UW-L that will require private fundraising. When it came to academics, the state traditionally picked up the costs, said Jensen-Utz. Centennial Hall will cost about $44 million to build. The state will finance $38 million, and $6 million will come from private fundraising. "People think of UW-L as being funded by taxpayer dollars, but the state isn't fully funding our projects anymore," she said. "Our assignment for the Foundation has been given, to raise $6 million, so that we can get the state to match their $38 million." The Foundation has currently raised almost $3 million. "I think that it needs to be emphasized that not real long ago, when you had a project like a classroom building on a campus, it just seemed obvious that the state would fund that. Now a portion of that is being funded by taxpayer dollars, but there is still private money we need to raise; it's hard to get over that mindset, that it's the way it works now," said Cary Heyer, Director of University Relations. This is the first new building to be constructed on campus since 1974. The new building will have 44 classrooms with seating that will accommodate 40 to 70 people, and two large auditoriums with a capacity of 250 poeple. There will also be conference rooms, a grand reception area, and nine department offices, including Career Services and International Education. Construction should begin around the end of the semester 2010. When construction begins, Wilder, Trowbridge, and Baird hall will be torn down. According to Jensen-Utz, the building will have capacity for 5000 people, which will make it one of the biggest buildings on campus. UW-L's campus is the second smallest in the UW system, next to UW-Milwaukee. Growth at UW-L has meant more students in increasingly smaller classrooms. Updates in technology have also increased the need to update. By razing existing buildings, no green space will be sacrificed. Many contributions from the Foundation come from faculty and staff, and alumni. "We're getting information out to the community to let them know that there is something grand going on here," said Utz. The Centennial Campaign is a fundraising effort by the UW-L Foundation for the university, raising funds for the new sports complex, the new academic building, faculty awards and development, scholarships, undergraduate research, and the annual fund.

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