Potawatomi seek OK for near west side solar panels
The Forest County Potawatomi Community is seeking city approval to install 848 solar panels at its Wgema Campus on Milwaukee’s near west side.
The proposed project would be capable of generating 335 kilowatts that would provide electricity for two buildings on the campus at 3136 W. Kilbourn Ave.
The project — on the site of the former campus of Concordia UniversityWisconsin — will need the approval of the Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission. The project site is within the Concordia Historic District.
The Potawatomi community is proposing an array of ground-based solar panels.
The project would have a low profile and would not affect the nearby playing fields used by soccer and football clubs, according to the application before the Historic Preservation Commission.
The Wgema Campus is the site of a data center, charter school and several tribal offices and businesses.
The Potawatomi community took control of the 11-acre site, between West Kilbourn Avenue and West Highland Boulevard and North 31st and North 33rd streets, in 1990. Concordia moved to Mequon in 1983.
The Potawatomi community also plans two other solar projects, including one on tribal land in northern Wisconsin, said George Ermert, a spokesman. The three planned projects will generate a total of roughly 1 megawatt of electricity.
The community received a $1 million grant — which it will match — last year from the U.S. Department of Energy for the solar projects.
With the addition of the three proposed projects, the Potawatomi community would have a total of 3.5 megawatts of solar power.
In addition to its solar projects, it has built a biodigester that produces electricity and heat from waste from the food and beverage industries.
The $20 million project, one block west of Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, 1721 W. Canal St., generates 2 megawatts of electricity and provides heating and hot water to the casino.