Sustainability on the Outside
The site surrounding the CMC also supports sustainability through :
• Ten Level 2 ( mid-speed ) electric vehicle charging stations , as well as underground conduit and electrical panel circuits ready to serve possible future additions of 20 more charging stations .
• An additional 25 preferred parking stalls set aside for green vehicles , including EVs , hybrids , and a handful of highly efficient gas vehicles .
• Outdoor water use reduced 50 % from the baseline level , with 5.5 acres of non-irrigated landscape ( mostly native shortgrass prairie seed mix ), 1.8 acres of irrigated lawn , and 1.2 acres of irrigated planting beds with 2,500 native plantings from black-eyed Susans to American linden trees .
• Removal of 80 % of suspended solids from stormwater runoff .
• Bike paths through and around the site , connecting to Eau Claire ’ s extensive trail network .
• Parking lot design that prioritizes walkers and minimizes drive lanes next to the buildings .
• Assistance from Ayres with successful applications for a $ 500,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation ( WEDC ) Idle Industrial Site Redevelopment Grant and a $ 400,000 U . S . Environmental Protection Agency grant that supported remediation and demolition to prepare the site .
There would have been no project at all if not for the generosity of UW-Eau Claire alumni John and Carolyn Sonnentag and their family foundation . The Sonnentags donated 21 acres of land and initially committed $ 10 million to the project in 2014 . They eventually helped the Blugold Real Estate Foundation acquire additional land , providing a total footprint of 28 acres of land on the Chippewa River . The plan was to jump-start an events complex to replace the aging and inefficient Zorn Arena on campus . The value of the Sonnentags ’ total commitment to the project is $ 70 million , including $ 40 million in cash , leaving little doubt about the project ’ s viability . In 1946 the Sonnentag family founded what later became County Materials , a manufacturer of concrete products that until recent years continued production on the site where the CMC is now being built .
Eau Claire ’ s City Council and Visit Eau Claire were among the other big financial supporters of the project , approving $ 7.88 million for the project and $ 4.19 million for public infrastructure improvements around it , including a new roundabout that Ayres is designing adjacent to the CMC . Included in the City ’ s commitment is $ 1.5 million dedicated to the sustainability features of the project . Market & Johnson , general contractor for the CMC ’ s construction , has attended to the many details of implementing the sustainability features on the site . Xcel Energy is leading the effort to build a nearby solar facility in support of the CMC stakeholders ’ plans to power the complex with renewable energy .
16 | TRENDS Ingenuity , Integrity , and Intelligence .