Building commission approves Institutes for Discovery

Madison, Wis. — Wisconsin's Building Commission approved a $150 million plan to build the first phase of the planned Institutes for Discovery on a block of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, the governor's office said.

Governor Jim Doyle chairs the commission, which voted 7-1 for the proposal. The first phase is slated for groundbreaking in December 2007 and finish in 2009.

"The decision to go ahead with the project will give Wisconsin a world-class research facility designed to bring researchers from various fields together to find scientific answers to some of the world's most difficult problems," said UW-Madison chancellor John Wiley in a statement issued after the announcement on Wednesday.

More on the Institutes

• Discovery makes Wisconsin go 'round at BIO Chicago • Morgridge gift enables phase one of Institute for Discovery

• Tom Still: Seven good reasons to approve the Institutes for Discovery