The University of Wisconsin-Platteville will celebrate the grand opening of its newest engineering building, Sesquicentennial Hall, on Thursday, Sept. 1. The $55 million building will adjoin Busby Hall of Engineering to create a 200,000-square-foot state-of-the-art complex that supports interdisciplinary engineering and computer science.
At the center of the building is the Huff Family Innovation Center, which is slated to be one of the largest makerspaces in the Midwest. It will provide a space for community members and students across any discipline to collaborate and create, using tools in woodworking, metals, 3D printing, robotics, textiles and vinyl, and more.
One of the distinguishing traits of the building is its commitment to sustainable design, with features that double as teaching tools, such as a visible stormwater system, rooftop solar array and accessible green roof. It is the university’s first building to seek certification by the U.S. Green Building Council’s internationally-recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Development rating system, known as LEED.
The grand opening ceremony, open to the public, begins at 1 p.m. and will be held at the corner of Southwest Road and Longhorn Drive. Tours of the building will be available following the ceremony.
UW-Platteville is a top Wisconsin engineering school, graduating the second largest number of engineering degrees in the state, with more than 600 every year. UW-Platteville offers seven ABET-accredited engineering programs. For more information about Sesquicentennial Hall, visit www.uwplatt.edu/sesquicentennial-hall.