From an article by Adam Wise in the Wausau Daily Herald:
GRAND RAPIDS — Mid-State Technical College expects to break ground on its renewable energy program center this fall, with the new teaching space ready for students by August 2011.
The project will include $1.5 million worth of new construction and about $750,000 in upgrades and remodeling at the Wisconsin Rapids campus, said Elizabeth Moran, MSTC spokeswoman. Somerville, an architectural company from Green Bay, is leading the design phase.
About 10,000 square feet of additional space will be developed, including several classroom labs and a rooftop laboratory for students to test wind and solar technologies, said MSTC Facilities Director Craig Hjelle. Several labs also will be remodeled.
“They will be rather high structures, so we can do the stuff with renewables and urban forestry,” Hjelle said.
The college — which has Stevens Point, Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids campuses and a center in the city of Adams — produced its first graduates from its five renewable energy programs this spring.