GREEN BAY (WLUK) — The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has been approved for a replacement of its 52-year-old Coughlin Library.
Construction is expected to begin next spring on the Coughlin Technical Education Center, a five-story, $101 million rebuild that was recently approved by the state Building Commission.
The current eight-story library will be demolished, dramatically changing the landscape of the state’s fastest-growing university.
The Coughlin Library opened in 1972 and is still heavily used today.
“This is typically used as a quiet place to study,” said Karime Galaviz, student body president at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. “We have individual study rooms there, and we use them a lot.”
But university leaders say the library doesn’t meet the needs of current students. Plus, it has structural problems and a 2020 inspection found it would be more cost-effective to replace it than renovate it.
“This really represents a library that made perfect sense in the late 1960s and early ’70s,” said Michael Alexander, president of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. “It doesn’t make sense, and there’s no way it can be transformed into a library that’s relevant in the 21st century.”
In addition to housing the books, the new library building will house an Indigenous education centre, an entrepreneurship and innovation lab, administrative offices and a host of state-of-the-art technology.
The proposed site would be between Widener Center and Rose Hall, where the Phoenix statue currently stands.
It is scheduled to open in early 2027.
Alexander said the current library building will likely be demolished in 2028. Its demolition will bring with it an important feature of the university’s campus that isn’t currently here.
“If you’ve been to our campus, you’ll notice we don’t have a traditional university courtyard, which would allow a view of all the academic buildings and make it easier for students to get to where they’re going,” Alexander said. “This change makes that possible. It makes the Coughlin Technology and Education Center the front door to the university in a really clear and recognizable way.”
Alexander says this is important when half of the students are the first generation in their families to attend college.
Existing students say they will also appreciate the new layout.
“I know it won’t happen for a few more years, but I’ll definitely come back to see it when I graduate,” Galaviz said.
During construction, the Phoenix statue will be temporarily moved outside the Kress Center before returning to the new courtyard.
