If all goes as planned, the University of Wisconsin may see the on-campus construction of a premier biotechnology research institute begin as soon as next December.

In a 7-1 vote, the state Building Commission gave Gov. Jim Doyle permission Wednesday to go ahead with his plan to build the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, a research complex comprised of separate public and private centers aimed at furthering the state's medical research.

Officials said they will begin to build the complex along the 1300 block of University Avenue and are expecting to expand along additional blocks until its completion in 2009.

"[W]hat the project is really all about [is] creating a research center unlike any other in the U.S.," Doyle spokesperson Matt Canter said. "And that is a true public-private partnership … to create a new scientific approach to biomedical research."

As the governor applauded Wednesday's final approval as a positive step for the state's future as a leader in biotechnology research, others were equally pleased with the commission's decision.

According to a release issued by UW Chancellor John Wiley, the new complex will encourage collaborative research.

"The decision to go ahead with the project will give Wisconsin a world-class research facility designed to bring researchers from various fields together to find scientific answers to some of the world's most difficult problems," Wiley said.

While the project gained final approval Wednesday, its origins began in 2004, when Doyle first proposed the research complex.

Since then, it has been approved by both the state Legislature and the UW System Board of Regents, and just earlier this month, its financing plan was unveiled.

In the largest individual gift to UW in the school's history, university alumni John Morgridge and his wife Tashia donated $50 million, a gift that will be matched by both the state and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, totaling $150 million.

"We were really excited [by the commission's approval]," WARF spokesperson Andy Cohn said. "It shows a bipartisan support for the whole concept of having a first-class research institute in the middle of campus."

The research complex will promote the collaborative partnership necessary to tackle the intricate research problems of today, Cohn added.

Canter agreed, emphasizing the importance of biomedical research in the state's economic development.

"It's absolutely going to help our economy. It's going to help our lives in every respect," he said. "Wisconsin is absolutely leading the nation in this kind of research and … in creating high-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs."

While officials pointed to the positive economic effects of the complex, they also heralded the institute as an asset to UW, reaffirming it as one of the nation's premier universities.

"The gifts from the Morgridges and [WARF] and the wise investment by state government in this project will pay dividends for generations to come — in life-changing discoveries, a stronger economy and an even better university," Wiley said.