Milwaukee County tours new forensic science building, expected to open in spring 2026

Construction of a new forensic and protective medicine facility is nearly three quarters complete in Milwaukee County. Borne of a partnership between the county and the state, the project is expected to be completed early next year.

Milwaukee County on Friday took media and stakeholders on a tour of the first and second floors of the Forensic Science and Protective Medicine Facility, underway on the southwestern side of the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus in Wauwatosa.

The 212,000 square-foot, four-story facility will be home for the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management and the State of Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Crime Lab. Versiti Wisconsin will have its organ procurement facility and tissue bank at the new building.

“This idea of a facility is finally becoming a reality,” said David Crowley, executive of Milwaukee County, at the tour. The building will “provide a new space for the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner, that has desperately needed a new space for many, many years,” he added.

The facility is 70% complete and is expected to open in spring 2026, said Michael Krolczyk, senior vice president of C.D. Smith Construction.

The Medical Examiners Office will move from its former home, located at 933 W. Highland Ave. in Milwaukee, leaving behind a crumbling building with a lack of room for staff and equipment. The office will have 43,000 square feet of space at the new facility, county officials said.

Wieslawa Tlomak, the chief medical examiner of Milwaukee County, said the expanded space will attract more forensic pathology students who might train under the Medical Examiners Office through a partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The Office of Emergency Management, which includes the 911 dispatch and an emergency operations center, will have 28,000 square feet at the new facility. Versiti will use 2,000 square feet in the new facility.

“We had to make sure there was continuity,” Crowley said of having four organizations under one roof, which benefits from shared resources. “Making sure not only our Office of Emergency Management but the Medical Examiners Office and the state crime lab had the opportunity to have conversations. With them all co-located in one area, this is going to help speed up justice for us,” he added.

The total project cost between the state and the county is more than $233 million, county officials said. Milwaukee County contributed around $120 million, said Aaron Hertzberg, the county’s director of facility management.

The next big project for Milwaukee County is the Public Safety Building overhaul, which is expected to cost nearly $500 million. In his capital budget proposal, Gov. Tony Evers recommended giving $25 million in state funding to renovate the complex.

Crowley said he’s been in conversations in Madison about funding the project. Rep. Bob Donovan, a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, signaled he was in favor of opening state funding for the courthouse complex.

“For us, it’s how we build on momentum,” Crowley said. “We’ve seen what we’re doing right here, we’ve seen what we’re able to do with Act 12. And now, with this momentum, we’re showing what we can deliver when we come together and we’re looking to see that happen with the Public Safety Building,” he added.

Design and development partners include HGA, Crime Lab Design, SmithGroup, Continuum Architects, Summit Smith Development, Royal Capital Group and K. Singh & Associates, Inc.