Major Sheboygan waterfront redevelopment project breaks ground
By Charles Rathmann, SBT Reporter
What is now a blighted former coal storage area at the mouth of the Sheboygan River will soon be a bustling multi-use lakefront development.
Ground was broken Oct. 24 for the redevelopment project at the C. Reiss Coal property in the city of Sheboygan. The city purchased the 50-acre property from the coal shipping interest for $2 million.
According to Jacqueline Jarvis, director of the city’s Department of City Development, it is hoped the site will be worth $40 million after an investment of $8 million to $10 million to remediate the site and undertake other work.
The project will benefit from more than $4.5 million in grants and loans from state, federal and local entities, ranging from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Grants include a $1.1 million Brownfields grant from the Department of Commerce, $500,000 from the HUD Economic Development Initiative, a $135,000 DNR Stewardship grant through the Urban Rivers Grant Program, $162,000 from the Department of Administration’s Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and $2.4 million interest-free loan from the DNR.
An additional $500,000 was raised by a loosely-formed entity called Friends of Sheboygan. Members of the group, headed up by Mike Muth, pledged money before recent shake-ups in the economy.
“These friends were depending on a higher-valued stock market, “Muth said. “As a result, some people had to borrow this money.”
Remediation efforts will include removal of some heavily contaminated soil and capping with clean fill. The site contains arsenic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), both substances that can result from burning of coal.
Apart from remediation work, funds will be used to restore the site and build a nature trail. Coastal Management grant funds will be used to restore the lakefront portion of the property to natural dunes.
The project will augment a retail-oriented riverwalk project directly across the Sheboygan River from the C. Reiss Coal property.
The Department of Development is currently working on requests for proposals for a master plan and environmental remediation work, and seeking involvement of an interested commercial developer.
November 9, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
