Racine, Kenosha and Walworth County voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a $49 million construction and renovation referendum proposed by Gateway Technical College for all three of its campus locations. The plan included upgrades to existing facilities, building a $15.6 million public safety training building and a $13 million expansion and renovation at the Elkhorn campus.
College President Brian Albrecht says the referendum defeat means “we’ll face some challenges” to provide needed workforce skills training as a number of the facilities are outdated.
“We still know we play an important role in our community and we’ll continue to be strong advocates for our students,” adds Albrecht.
The referendum received an approximate total of 35,000 votes against and 24,000 votes for.
Albrecht says different components of the referendum were all part of Gateway’s long-term plan but it’s possible, in the future, the college will ask voters to approve smaller project.
WRJN’s Tom Karkow contributed to this report