Public/private partners support chemistry building project

A capital project years in the making will take a major step toward completion Wednesday, Sept. 16, when ground is officially broken for construction of a seven-story addition to UW–Madison’s chemistry facilities.

A new research tower, scheduled for completion in slightly more than two years, will physically join the Mathews Chemistry Building at the corner of Johnson and Charter streets. A new 120-seat seminar hall will adjoin the Daniels Chemistry Building at the corner of Johnson and Mills streets. Both existing buildings, constructed in the 1960s, predate modern safety standards for chemistry research laboratories.

A public/private partnership involving the UW–Madison, State of Wisconsin, federal government, corporate industry and alumni and friends will provide funding for the project. The result will enhance safety, increase collaborative efforts among faculty, staff and students, and improve the university’s ability to recruit and retain outstanding students and faculty.

Consisting of more than 48,000 square feet of assignable space, the tower will house synthetic chemistry research laboratories, chemical instrumentation and departmental offices. Following the tower’s completion, some 84,000 square feet of the existing Mathews and Daniels buildings will be renovated.

Impetus for the $38.9 million project, according to department officials, has been guided in large part through the efforts of David Ward, UW–Madison chancellor; John Wiley, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs; and Phillip R. Certain, dean of the College of Letters and Science.

Contributing to the project are the State of Wisconsin, $17 million; the UW Vilas Trust, $13 million; the UW–Madison, College of Letters and Science and University of Wisconsin Foundation, $3.3 million; the Department of Chemistry through a gift fund endowment, $2 million; friends, faculty and alumni of the department, $500,000; the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, $2.6 million; and the Dow Chemical Company, $500,000.

The combined contributions of the State and UW–Madison are part of the WISTAR program – the Wisconsin Initiative for State Technology and Applied Research.

Leading donors among alumni and friends include C.V. Wittenwyler (’42 BS Chem), Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Clifford J. Burg (’37 BS Chem), Appleton, Wisconsin; Elizabeth S. Hirschfelder (’30 PhD Math), Madison, Wisconsin; and Irving Shain, Madison, emeritus professor of chemistry, former chair of the Department and chancellor of the UW–Madison from 1977 to 1986.

The architect for the project is Flad and Associates, and the engineer is Affiliated Engineers, Inc., both of Madison. The general contractor is J.P. Cullen and Sons, Inc., of Janesville, Wisconsin.