APPLETON, Wisconsin – Lawrence University and the Trout Museum of Art (TMA) will break ground at 11 a.m. March 7 on a joint building project at 325 E. College Avenue in downtown Appleton.
Media are welcome to join officials from Lawrence, the Trout Museum of Art, and Boldt, as well as other area dignitaries, on site for the groundbreaking of a transformative project that will bolster the futures of two iconic Fox Cities institutions while reshaping the 300 block of E. College Avenue. Plans for construction of the four-story building were announced in August.
Scheduled to open in Fall 2025, the building will feature more than 100,000 square feet of space over four floors, with a state-of-the-art Trout Museum of Art on the ground floor, innovative academic spaces for Lawrence on the second floor, and market-rate apartments on the upper two floors. Located at the southwest intersection of College Avenue and Drew Street, on the western edge of the Lawrence campus, the building is a partnership between Lawrence and TMA, with Lawrence owning the upper three floors and TMA the ground floor. It has an estimated cost of $38 million.
For Lawrence, the new building will support innovative programming that builds on the university’s world-class academics. It adds more than 30,000 square feet of academic space and provides flexibility for future enrollment growth. It will bolster Lawrence’s offerings in the humanities and its growing mathematics, statistics, and computer science programs, plus provide state-of-the art offices and studios for Conservatory of Music faculty, all while supporting the university’s efforts to enhance pathways to greater community and career collaborations.
For the Trout Museum of Art, the building will showcase artwork and function as a dynamic community space, emphasizing art education and engagement. The museum will feature three gallery wings for flexible short and long-term exhibitions, as well as indoor and outdoor classrooms for artistic development, artist-in-residency studios, lecture and community spaces, a café, exhibit preparation and artwork storage space, and an expanded TMA Store. Beyond physical expansion, the new era of the Trout Museum of Art signifies a commitment to the community, a dedication to artistic enrichment, and a vision for a future where art is accessible to everyone.
The building is designed by the Los Angeles-based Frederick Fisher and Partners, in partnership with Boldt. The building design, first unveiled in December, features vibrant architecture that will remake the east end of Appleton’s downtown. Blending innovation and tradition, the design creates a visual masterpiece that promises to elevate the city’s cultural landscape—a simplicity of form with two rectangular stacked volumes that seamlessly fuse the boundary between the downtown and the edge of the Lawrence campus.
Boldt is proud to serve the Trout Museum of Art and Lawrence University on this important project through its primary role as design-builder, in partnership with Boldt Technical Services and Fredrick Fisher and Associates Architects. Additionally, Boldt Holdings is serving Lawrence University as the owner’s representative on their portion of the project.
