Huh? Timeout. Explanation Needed.

As the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors barrel ahead towards Thursday’s vote on the Milwaukee County Ground land sale to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee word comes, according to the Daily Reporter article Main Campus Still in Play for UWM Engineering Building, that UWM’s own planning includes possible development sites for College of Engineering and Applied Science buildings on the East Side campus.  I’ve long suggested a variety of sites downtown and near downtown as better options for expansion than the Wauwatosa site, but expanding on the current campus is of course a logical choice as well.  This site make sense because the issues of the lack of affordable housing, limited access to transit, and the negative environmental impacts of sprawl are alleviated by developing within the urban environment.

That said, these plans, although great and preferred, add confusion to the issue and clearly bring up a series of questions that deserve answers.  Why hasn’t this idea been thoroughly investigated by the UWM?  What exactly is UWM proposing to build on the Milwaukee County Grounds?  What is the rush to close on the land acquisition if these plans are a possibility?  There has been a lot of discussion about collaboration and research within the areas of bio-medical research, but what about computer, chemical, civil, construction, and the numerous other fields of engineering will they be staying on the East Side?  At first UWM proposed the land would be used for the “engineering school,” then it was “just graduate students,” still later “just research,” but at the same time the discussion expanded to include a boutique hotel and restaurant.

It appears the “plan” has gone through significant changes from the beginning until now, and more questions have arisen than have been answered, all of which need to be answered and spelled out clearly for the public prior to any approval or land sale.