Grant advances plans for new Allen-Edmonds plant

The state will provide $400,000 to help Allen-Edmonds Shoe Corp. build a new 80,000-square-foot factory in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley.
The state assistance is in the form of a brownfield clean-up grant that will help Allen-Edmonds cover the cost of environmental remediation work at the site, which is located at 131 S. 7th St, the site of the former Milwaukee Tallow Co.
While construction of the new facility is not expected to begin until next spring, the Milwaukee Tallow Co. plant will be razed this spring, and site clean-up will begin immediately, said John Stollenwerk, company president.
According to Stollenwerk, plans for the new facility are all set, but current economic conditions aren’t right for an immediate start of construction. “This business environment does not lend itself to beginning construction,” he said. “But we’re very enthusiastic about the project.”
The Port Washington-based company has been leasing space in the Enterprise Center-South at 816 W. National Ave. for its Milwaukee manufacturing operations. About 95 people work in that plant. Allen-Edmonds anticipates hiring an additional 50 persons for the new factory, a company spokesman said.
“It’s also important to note that the site for this new facility is in the Menomonee Valley, which is more tangible evidence of the state’s commitment to help with the redevelopment of this large and under-utilized parcel of Milwaukee’s urban landscape,” said Gov. Scott McCallum in announcing the brownfield clean-up grant. “It’s vitally important to keep good-paying jobs in the city of Milwaukee, and the state will help in any way it can to achieve that goal,” McCallum added.
The property is along Canal Street, adjacent to the Wisconsin Electric Power Co. generating plant. The Sixth Street Viaduct, which carries traffic over the valley, is being taken down. The new bridge will slope down to meet Canal Street at grade. Additionally, plans are being considered to rebuild Canal Street and to extend it west and east from its current stretch.
Reconstruction and extension of Canal Street is seen as a key element of redevelopment of the valley. And city officials have noted that an extended Canal Street could help alleviate traffic congestion when the Marquette Interchange and downtown portions of I-94 are rebuilt in the coming years.
April 27, 2001 SBT