In northeast Wisconsin, Lawrence University and the Trout Museum of Art are working together to construct a $38 million mixed-use building.
This fall, the four-story building is expected to open in downtown Appleton. The more than 120,000 square foot space will feature the historic art museum on the first floor, classrooms and offices on the second floor and dozens of apartments on the third and fourth floors.
The apartments will be open to community renters.
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“We studied the housing needs in our community, particularly in the downtown area,” President of Lawrence University Laurie Carter recently told “Wisconsin Today”. “In thinking about this project, we thought what better way for us to make contributions.”
She added that the partnership between the liberal arts institution and the Trout Museum began because both are in need of additional space.
“We have a growth plan for our student population.” she said.
With construction ahead of schedule, Carter shared a behind the scenes look at the building project and declining enrollment.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Rob Ferrett: A lot of fundraising was involved between Lawrence University and the Trout Museum of Art. Who ends up paying for all of this?
Laurie Carter: Fundraising was a key component of this. Both Lawrence and Trout have been fundraising for the project. Lawrence University was gifted with $10 million which seeded the project for us, and Trout contributed their portion. The apartments on the top two floors will be a continuous revenue stream for us so the funding was sort of mixed use, like the building.
RF: Did you have models of other universities around the country doing similar things, or were you kind of inventing something new here?
LC: Well, I’m not inventing something new. I was involved in a project of this type in 1990 in Lincoln Center, where several institutions got together and created office space for themselves, as well as other artistic space. There were apartments connected to it. It’s a model I knew and saw work very effectively, and it is still working effectively.
RF: You’re looking for enrollment growth at Lawrence University. We’ve talked on “Wisconsin Today” about the declining enrollment among small and mid-sized universities and public and private universities. How is Lawrence handling this issue?
LC: This is part of how we’re dealing with it. We are really looking at every aspect of the university, and we’re listening to the public discourse about higher education. Lawrence is responding to that.
We are a liberal arts institution, and we are committed to the liberal arts. We also use that liberal arts toolkit in a way that speaks to students’ life after Lawrence. This West Campus project, as well as another project that we opened earlier this year, are really a part of that deepening our connections with the community.
It’s so students understand how to use the skills they’re learning at Lawrence in the workplace. It’s a really exciting opportunity for us, and it speaks to the needs of our community. It’s really developing the workforce with the students that are here, connecting the students with the community so they know how to be good citizens, and having them understand that a liberal arts education is very meaningful.
