UW-Eau Claire Reveals Name Of New Academic Building: Riverside Science Center
the new science building promises to be a 'catalyst for innovation,' will be the largest in UW System
UWEC Integrated Marketing and Communications |
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s newest academic building has officially been named the Riverside Science Center, after approval by the UW System Board of Regents this July.
The five-story structure along the Chippewa River will become the largest facility among the Universities of Wisconsin schools, when it opens for the Fall semester in 2027.
The students, faculty and community partners who will inhabit the building, promise new pathways for innovation through research, teaching and collaboration.
“The Riverside Science Center is a testament to extraordinary collaboration and innovation between the university and its community partners, and it will be a tremendous asset for UW-Eau Claire and the region for decades to come,” Edwin Martini, chancellor for UW-Eau Claire, said. “Generations of Blugolds will have the opportunity to work alongside fellow students, faculty and community collaborators to discover new knowledge and find ways to improve the world around them.”
When the project first broke ground in 2024 – initially titled the Science and Health Sciences Building – a campus naming committee considered more than 100 suggestions to name the new building and shared six favorites through a public survey in early 2026.
From there, this committee recommended three names to then-Interim Chancellor Michael J. Carney, who chose Riverside Science Center in March.
Disciplines who will utilize the building range from anthropology, engineering and nursing; to try and assign the 330,000-square-foot facility’s functions to one name was too challenging.
That’s part of the reason the committee settled on a more generic title, university staff shared.
Among the amenities of the new center are state-of-the-art learning facilities, hands-on labs for student learning, prototyping and fabrication and nursing simulations.
Mayo Clinic Health System will utilize about 10,000 square feet within the Riverside Science Center for research, instructional, office and meeting spaces – as part of its $13.7 million contribution to the project.
Riverside Science Center will eventually replace Phillips Hall, which opened in 1964 and no longer meets the needs of students, staff shared. Materials and supplies from the former science hall will start to move into the new building in February of the new year; as spring semester concludes, the university intends to pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
Originally published by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, this article has been edited and condensed for publication in Volume One.
