Rice Lake now has its first housing complex for thousands of college students in town.

The federal government funded the new Glenwood Commons Student Housing facility with a loan of more than $4,000,000.

Almost 100 students from UW-Barron County or Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College will be able to stay in the two-dozen units that make up the building. The new building is adjacent to both campuses.

School leaders say having quality housing for students may be what gets them in the door in the first place.

"If we're going to continue to grow, we're gonna have to address that problem, and we have with this project, " said WITC Campus Administrator Craig Fowler. He says the building utilizes geothermal energy, despite cuts to the initial budget.

"It's as green a building as you could possibly get," he said.

It will also provide students with on-site laundry, appliances, and places to study.

"It helps give students at these facilities a decent place to live, and secondly it helps develop the local economy," said Congressman Dave Obey. He helped to secure the funding for the project.

"Just building the facility does some good in terms of jobs because you give people jobs they wouldn't likely have had."

The City of Rice Lake used to own the land that Glenwood sits on, but it donated the property to the West Central Wisconsin Community Action Agency. It technically runs the facility under the name "Glenwood Commons"

"It's huge and we've got a lot of community support behind it, which just confirms that there's a need for it," Fowler said.

Four students will end up living in each apartment at Glenwood Commons. They'll each have their own bedroom. Fowler says the cost to students is comparable to what they'd pay to live in a dorm at UW-Eau Claire.

WITC says one student is already living in the Glenwood Commons building. It expects lots more students to apply for housing there for the fall semester.