BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Brown County Board Members want to hear from developers about what to do with the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena Complex property.
County Supervisor Dave Landwehr tells WLUK..
“We need to look at all options at what would be the best use for that site”
To find possible options, the county is planning to send requests for information to local and national developers who’ve built projects on similar sites.
“It’s a multi-million-dollar development, so it’s going to have to be sent to some major developers and it’s going to be online so people can look at it,” said Bernie Erickson, a county supervisor.
Besides tearing down the Arena buildings and building a new expo center, other ideas that have been floated around include a luxury hotel, mixed-use commercial, and additional parking.
“I think we have to look at those cost and what that means for the overall taxpayer” says Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach.
The possible cost of a new expo center is expected to be revealed March 13th.
That’s when Streckenbach says a consultant is expected to unveil the findings of a $50,000 feasibility study for the Arena property.
“When you look at the overall opportunity and the land and where you place some of those types of assets and you couple that with what’s on that whole corridor, to me right now the expo hall makes the most sense”
There is no deadline for when county leaders plan to make a decision on what to do with the property.
The county board still needs to approve sending out the requests for information to developers.
If a developer sends in a project that board members are interested in, the next move would likely be requesting a formal proposal.
