In October 1967, author Irving Wallace, a Kenosha native, donated a collection of his books, manuscripts, correspondence, awards and other items to UW–Parkside to establish the Irving Wallace Collection, including plays, screenplays, photographs and other materials. The next month ground was broken for the first two buildings of the new campus. 31 parcels of land were acquired for the $6.5 million first phase of the construction project, mostly through condemnation. The first building was finished in time to hold classes in the fall of 1969. The rest of the campus was finished in 1976 with the opening of the Union. Also in 1967, the historic Chiwaukee Prairie in the south of Kenosha County was named a state natural area as The Nature Conservancy Inc., and began donating the land to UW–Parkside.