A proposed $6 million research center in Ashland got its moment in the sun at Superior Days on Wednesday
The U.S. Geological Survey has had a research facility in Ashland since the research vessel Kiyi came to port about three years ago. Plans for a new center are in the works. Ashland Area Development Corp. director Dale Kupczyk says the new facility is needed to allow researchers to provide water testing and keep an eye on the fish in Lake Superior.
"They need a larger facility, plus we want to make better use of Northland College, the Sigurd Olsen Institute," Kupczyk said. "Also with UW-Superior, you have UW-Madison. With, possibly with, if there's a mine, clean-water research. That will be constant."
Superior Days delegates are asking for funding from the state for the research center. Kupczyk says not only will the facility attract students, it will bring in researchers from other areas and help boost the economy.
"It can create jobs. If we tie in with UW-Milwaukee, with their water program, they're doing the water science on Lake Michigan. So all this data can work together, instead of everybody doing their own thing," Kupczyk said. "Everybody get the data, put it together, see where we're at."
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The new facility would be located next to the port where the vessel Kiyi is docked. The city of Ashland has offered to donate the land where the facility is planned to be built. Kupczyk says it makes sense to bring everything together into one location.
