After more than a decade of planning, business leaders and government officials celebrated Friday the groundbreaking of the new Forensic Science and Protective Medicine Facility in Wauwatosa, representing a "unique private–private–public–public" partnership.
The three-story, 212,000-square-foot facility will be located at the corner of West Wisconsin Avenue and North 94th Street on the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus.
The building will be the future home to the state’s Milwaukee Crime Lab, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management. The building will also include space for the relocated Organ Procurement Organization and Tissue Bank of Versiti.
"The state crime lab started talking about being replaced for the region here in about 2010," said
John Raymond, president of the
Medical College of Wisconsin. "We had a lot of twists and turns along the way, it's been a long journey. ...but a private–private–public–public collaborative is unique in the country."
Costing a total of $226 million to build, the project is being funded by about $99.5 million of funding from the state for its portion of the building and about $100 million from Milwaukee County for its portion. Milwaukee County will also spend about $27 million to build out the space, according to county documents.
Due to the building's highly-specialized and custom lab design, construction costs are considerably more for this project than a typical office building of it's size, speakers said.
The Medical College of Wisconsin would own the land on which the building stands. The governments would not pay the medical college to occupy the land, county documents say.
"There is going to be an opportunity for real collaboration between the partners who are part of this municipality, the state Department of Justice Crime Lab, also the county and obviously proximity to others in the Medical College of Wisconsin," said Attorney General Josh Kaul. "This is a real opportunity for us to work together to strengthen what is already in effect."
The Medical Examiner’s office is currently located in a 92-year-old building at 933 W. Highland Ave. in downtown Milwaukee that is inadequate for current and future programs and doesn’t meet industry standards, according to county officials.
"This new space will provide the amenities that we need, particularly for the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner that has been in desperate need for a new location for many, many years," Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said. "We also know that we'll be able to enhance the operations of the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management to deliver more effective and efficient response times."
The project team is led by C.D. Smith Construction and their development partners, Summit Smith Development and Royal Capital Group. The design team includes HGA Architects, Smith Group, Continuum, and Crime Lab Design.
The facility is expected to open in spring of 2026.
