Fowler & Hammer lowest bidder to build new parking structure for UW-La Crosse

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La Crosse-based Fowler & Hammer Inc. has been awarded a $19 million contract to build a five-story parking structure and additions to the police building at the Universities of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus, according to campus officials.

Fowler & Hammer was the low bidder for the project. The contractor was lower than bids from Miron Construction for $20.6 million, Market & Johnson for $22.1 million and C.D. Smith Construction for $19.1 million, according to bidding information from the Wisconsin Project Center.

Crews will build a 550-space, 204,000-square-foot parking garage on the southwest corner of campus, the second parking structure ever built on campus, said Scott Schumacher, the director of planning and construction at UW-La Crosse. The second project leg includes a buildout of the existing Police Services Building, with a multipurpose room to be used for training, meetings and a command center for large incidents, he added.

The university started the garage project to react to the demand for parking, and wanted to prepare for a possible residence hall project that would take parking spaces away, Schumacher explained. The residence hall project would need the governor’s blessing for state funding.

“We have students and staff on a waiting list that indicates they would buy a permit if there were more spaces available. It’s also in preparation for a potential future project that would remove some additional parking to construct a new residence hall,” Schumacher said.

The project will break ground in April and wrap up around March 2026, according to university officials. The project was in design phases for four years and was included in Gov. Tony Evers’ 2023-25 state budget.

Before the parking structure can go up, crews will have to demolish a 110-stall surface parking lot in its place, Schumacher said. The university had to engage with a local neighborhood association and create plans to avoid traffic congestion, such as designating temporary parking spots. When complete, the structure will also provide spaces for people who want to use the campus arts center, he added.

“We’ve had an ongoing challenge of meeting our parking demand without imposing on the adjacent neighborhood. That’s part of this solution as well, handle our parking and house and avoid students, staff and faculty migrating out into the neighborhood and parking on the street,” Schumacher said.

GRAEF will lead the project design team and EUA provided architectural services, university officials said. Both firms are based in Milwaukee.

The parking structure will have electric vehicle chargers on the first floor and space for solar panels on the roof, but the university will have to decide later whether to include panels, Schumacher noted.

UW-La Crosse has other planned projects as well: The university is pushing for a new four-story, 300-bed residence hall and the second phase of the Prairie Springs Science Center, according to the university webpage. Both projects will have to be enumerated by the state in the next biennium.