Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Meeting on environmental impact of proposed new Education Building set for March 15

An Environmental Impact Statement scoping meeting to present the proposed UW-Eau Claire Education Building project will be held at 5:30 p.m. March 15 in the Presidents Room of Davies Center. Free parking will be in the Hibbard lot or for a fee in the metered lot south of Zorn Arena. A description of the project will be presented, and all persons will be afforded a reasonable opportunity to identify both orally and in writing any support, issues or concerns they believe should be addressed during the EIS process.

The EIS will be prepared in accordance with the Wisconsin Environmental Policy Act, Wisconsin statute 1.11 and UW System Administration guidelines. The project manager is the state Department of Administration's Division of State Facilities. Ayres Associates has been retained to prepare an EIS on behalf of the UW System. The Education Building project includes construction of an approximately 183,000 GSF building that will be designed as a high performance building following DSF sustainability requirements. The building will be located west of Park Avenue, South of Zorn Arena and north of Schneider Hall on the present site of the Campus School. The project will require demolition of the Campus School and modifications to the south wall of Kjer Theatre. The project cost of $44,500,000 will be funded by general fund supported borrowing and building trust funds. Construction is projected to begin in spring 2012 with substantial completion and occupancy by July 2013.

An initial requirement of the EIS is the scoping process, with the intent of identifying at an early stage any potential impacts of the project on the physical, biological, social, and economic environments. Impacts that are identified during this process are incorporated into a Draft EIS which is made available to the public for a 45-day review period and is circulated to appropriate federal, state and local agencies.

Those interested in this project or who have any information relevant to it are welcome to offer comments, sugestions or other input. Those interested may submit comments at the meeting or in writing by March 22, 2011, to Dennis L. Johnson, PE; Supervisor – Environmental Services; Ayres Associates; 3433 Oakwood Hills Parkway; Eau Claire, WI 54701; johnsond@ayresassociates.com. Comment forms can also be obtained via the project website.