How Epic's fantasy-inspired campus transformed Verona over 20 years
NOE GOLDHABER
Updated
NOE GOLDHABER
Epic Systems facility head Jim Schumacher discusses the company’s sixth campus, themed around ‘Other Worlds’, which expands campus on a large sky bridge, while honoring a longstanding goal: to provide cozy and inventive spaces for the health tech giant’s many software developers to innovate.
Twenty years after Epic Systems relocated its headquarters to a farm field in Verona, the company’s sprawling 1,800-acre campus has grown to more than 90 buildings, including treehouses, castles and elaborate structures inspired by fantasy worlds, science fiction and storybooks.
In the 1990s, Epic occupied the former Odana School building, 5301 Tokay Blvd., and ran out of space as the company grew. This 1997 photo shows construction of a $10 million addition, rising behind Westgate Mall.
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A mock-up from architect John Cunningham of the original four-building campus the Verona City Council approved in 2003.
Foundations are poured for the first buildings at Epic Systems Corp.'s campus in Verona, in this photo from 2004. At the time, the company was planning for six office buildings to hold 1,200 employees. Today, employment at the electronic health records company is just under 10,000.
Aerial view of newly constructed building on Epic Systems campus in Verona. photo by Mike DeVries (Published 9/19/07) Epic System Corp.'s new learning center, with its giant "Epicenter" theater, welcomed for the first time clients gathering this week for the firm's annual Users Group Meeting. The snaking learning center is part of the company's growing Verona headquarters. PUBLISHED CAPTION 10-22-08 Epic Systems, Verona. Estimated value: $45 million (phase one) TIF assistance: $18 million.
In keeping with the theme of Epic’s Farm Campus, a sitting area in one of the office buildings is decorated to look like a farm field with Holsteins grazing nearby.
A fifth new office building, Sci-Fi, and a restaurant are being built on Epic Systems Corp.'s fifth campus, Storybook. Epic is also constructing two new buildings on its Wizarding campus and has broken ground on a sixth campus with an underground parking ramp.
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Jim Schumacher, facilities director for Epic Systems, views a winter-themed stairway lobby on the company's Other Worlds campus in Verona, Wis. Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
In the 1990s, Epic occupied the former Odana School building, 5301 Tokay Blvd., and ran out of space as the company grew. This 1997 photo shows construction of a $10 million addition, rising behind Westgate Mall.
Foundations are poured for the first buildings at Epic Systems Corp.'s campus in Verona, in this photo from 2004. At the time, the company was planning for six office buildings to hold 1,200 employees. Today, employment at the electronic health records company is just under 10,000.
Aerial view of newly constructed building on Epic Systems campus in Verona. photo by Mike DeVries (Published 9/19/07) Epic System Corp.'s new learning center, with its giant "Epicenter" theater, welcomed for the first time clients gathering this week for the firm's annual Users Group Meeting. The snaking learning center is part of the company's growing Verona headquarters. PUBLISHED CAPTION 10-22-08 Epic Systems, Verona. Estimated value: $45 million (phase one) TIF assistance: $18 million.
In keeping with the theme of Epic’s Farm Campus, a sitting area in one of the office buildings is decorated to look like a farm field with Holsteins grazing nearby.
A fifth new office building, Sci-Fi, and a restaurant are being built on Epic Systems Corp.'s fifth campus, Storybook. Epic is also constructing two new buildings on its Wizarding campus and has broken ground on a sixth campus with an underground parking ramp.
Jim Schumacher, facilities director for Epic Systems, views a winter-themed stairway lobby on the company's Other Worlds campus in Verona, Wis. Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL