Outagamie County agrees to UWO-Fox Cities campus property swap with Winnebago County 

APPLETON, WI—(WISS)— In June, the campus of UWO-Fox Cities will close after 77 years. Finding a buyer could have been difficult because two counties own the campus and its buildings. But Outagamie and Winnebago Counties have agreed on a solution. Outagamie County’s Board approved a resolution this week to sell its interest in the UWO-Fox Cities campus to Winnebago County for $1. In exchange, Outagamie County gets the Weis Earth Science Museum and its contents. 

The agreement between the two counties boils down to the following:

• Winnebago County will receive the buildings and campus of UWO-Fox Cities for $1
• Outagamie County will receive the contents of the Weis Earth Science Museum, which will be transferred to Appleton’s History Museum at the Castle.

Critics of the agreement mainly focused on moving the exhibits at the Weis away from the Barlow Planetarium. The two science-based facilities have experienced a symbiotic relationship for many years. 

Winnebago County Executive Gordon Hintz has said that the Barlow Planetarium will continue to operate through the transition. 

The next steps for the campus will be for the University of Wisconsin system to give formal approval for the shutdown and division of assets.