University of Wisconsin-Stout

Oct. 15, 2010

The future of Wisconsin rests in its commitment to education, and that future is in good hands at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Gov. Jim Doyle said Friday at the grand opening the Jarvis Hall addition and renovation.

“Students have to go to universities that prepare them for a highly competitive world. UW-Stout has met that challenge,” Doyle said. “With this building, students will get the best science and technology education anywhere in the world.”

Doyle gave the keynote address as the university celebrated the completion of the $43.2 million building, which houses the university’s growing focus on the sciences and related fields. Jarvis Hall, with nearly 160,000 square feet of new and renovated space, has state-of-the art labs and classrooms and is home to the school’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

“Jarvis Hall is a statement about this campus as an institution. Our future is one in which STEM education is becoming more and more important,” Doyle said.

“This project at UW-Stout will help prepare future generations to be leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” Doyle added. “Our world-class universities have always been the engines that drive Wisconsin. Even in tough times, we must invest in the institutions that will make us stronger in the years ahead.”

Chancellor Charles W. Sorensen called it a “very, very happy day at UW-Stout. This is perhaps the most important and significant building in the history of this campus. This building is transforming our university as the epicenter of our campus, with our new programs and direction as a university. It’s the finest science building in our state today.”

Sorensen’s sentiment was echoed by Chad Deines, a senior applied science major from Bloomington, Minn. “This is top of the line everywhere you look, in every aspect of the sciences. One room alone has $3 million worth of equipment,” Deines said.

“This is by far the most advanced building in the state,” Deines said. “It’s pretty amazing.”

Doyle, Sorensen and others who addressed a crowd of about 300 talked about the nearly 20 years it took for the building to go from concept to reality. “There’s enormous competition for state dollars. It takes years for a project like this to get a shovel in the ground,” Doyle said.

“We got it done under Doyle’s leadership,” Sorensen said, citing Doyle’s commitment to education.

Other speakers included Provost Julie Furst-Bowe; Vice Chancellor Diane Moen; STEM College Dean Jeff Anderson; Stout Student Association President Sawyer Lubke; UW System regent and UW-Eau Claire student Aaron Wingad; and Professor Charles Bomar, director of the applied science program.

“We waited a long time for this to happen,” said Bomar, who recalled hearing about the new building 17 years ago. “This will be home for science for the 21st century, a home for inquiry, a home for innovation. The next generation of science professionals all thank you.”

Moen, whose division oversaw the construction of the facility, credited various staff and contractors for “doing an amazing job” in creating a building that features glass atriums and labs that make science visible to passers-by.

Furst-Bowe said “this building will take us to the next level as a polytechnic university. It’s the realization of a dream.”

Lubke said “from high-tech science laboratories to exceptional research areas, this truly is a building of the future.”

Wingad said the building will “help strengthen the community and create better-paying jobs.”

Jarvis Hall includes the new Science Wing, which opened in fall 2009, and the renovated Technology Wing, which opened in September. The original building opened in 1970 and was named Jarvis Hall in 1980 for John Jarvis, vice president for Academic Affairs from 1962-73 and former acting president.

Two of his children, Tom Jarvis and Kay Sladky Jarvis, also spoke. “He would be pleased that this fine facility bears his name,” Tom Jarvis said.

John Jarvis, who died in 1984, was a science and technology leader on campus, creating the university’s industry technology major in 1956. “This vision changed Stout forever,” Tom Jarvis said.

Also in attendance was former UW-Stout Chancellor Robert Swanson.

Jarvis Hall was designed by SDS Architects and BWBR Architects. Shaw Lundquist served as the general contractor. Other builders and architects were Cedar Corp., KJWW Engineering, PSJ Engineering, Ken Saiki Design and Thomason Clark Corp.

The grand opening included tours and science demonstrations led by students.

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