Wgema Campus Development Continues
On Friday the director of facilities for Potawatomi Business Development Corporation Joe Tesch discussed future construction plans for Potawatomi’s Wgema Campus located in Milwaukee’s historic Concordia neighborhood.
In November they submitted a proposal to install more than 800 solar panels capable of generating 335 kilowatts of energy in an empty grass parcel across from the Tthigwe gymnasium building. The site is zoned for $250 thousand of light industrial but the campus is located within the Concordia Historic District and needs approval from the Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission before they may proceed.
“We need to keep the solar array there for 5 years to satisfy the grant. I would say after five years there could be another data center or you know some kind of light industrial building built,” said Tesch.
This would be the second array of solar panels installed at the campus. Earlier this year the first array was activated west of the LEED Gold certified Leroy Shockto Sr. Building at 3135 W. Highland Blvd. The Wgema campus is the largest LEED certified site in Milwaukee. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an international green building certification program.
Linda Hanig, a 44 year nearby resident said “Personally I think it’s really nice that they’re going to be very environmentally conscious that way.”
The Tthigwe building’s 1955 swimming pool addition was scheduled to be demolished this past March. The project is currently being reevaluated so the structure may be renovated instead. Originally built for Concordia College, the pool building is part of a $4.5 million gymnasium renovation plan.
Tesch said, “The brick that is shaling off; so it’s the freeze-thaw thing that happens here in Wisconsin. Yeah back in the day they tried to protect the parapet from all the moisture and they just made it worse.”
Concordia College, known today as Concordia University Wisconsin, built the campus in 1881 before moving to Mequon in 1983. The Potawatomi purchased the site in 1990 and started planning renovations for the newly named campus in 2007.
Sources
Joe Tesch - Director of Facilities at Potawatomi Business Development Corporation
Linda Hanig – Longtime local resident
Solar Panel Information
Swimming Pool Annexation Year
https://cdm15983.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/history/id/56/rec/1
Concordia College historic information
Concordia feels the city’s tug in its serene retreat
The Milwaukee Journal – January 12, 1989 Page 89
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