BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Brown County is giving out $3.2 million in grants aimed at boosting tourism.
16 entities applied for a portion of the money, which is from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
The county board of supervisors voted Wednesday night on giving the money to eight of those groups.
Cornerstone Community Center (new ice rink) – $1 million
Wisconsin United Soccer – $600,000
Impact Sports (outdoor sports complex) – $500,000
Wisconsin United Football Club (turf for two fields at Nouryon Sports Complex in Howard) – $400,000
Sports Emporium – $300,000
NE Wisconsin Rugby Foundation, Inc. – $200,000
One Denmark – $100,000
Pulaski Welcome Center/Community Center – $100,000
County leaders say it’s important to grow tourism revenue, which has helped fund major area projects.
“The heads in beds with the hotel tax is what pays for the Resch Center, the Expo, the KI, so we need to also be looking further down the line on how we can bring more revenue into Brown County to pay for those things,” said Patrick Buckley, the chair of the Brown County Board of Supervisors.
It is possible additional tourism grants could be given out. Supervisors asked to consider giving money to an expansion for the Children’s Museum and a theatre in De Pere to provide funding to non sports projects. Those requests are expected to be considered at upcoming meetings.
The $1 million grant for Cornerstone Community Center would go toward a $20 million expansion planned for the facility.
Workers and users of Cornerstone believe the facility is one sheet of ice away from being a premier hockey and skating destination in all of the Midwest.
“We’re going bigger so we can try to capture some of the larger events and hopefully then with four sheets of ice here some of the events we’re still too small for we can host here,” said Don Chilson, the manager of Cornerstone.
The plan is for a new rink to be the center of a 3,000 seat arena with locker room space.
St. Norbert College’s hockey programs would be among the many beneficiaries of the extra space.
“It’s going to be a first class facility,” said Cam Fuller, the athletic director for St. Norbert. “I think for our program, our men’s program has won five national championships. Our women are knocking on the door, so I think having a facility like this is going to be a real game changer.”
Expansion planning first started in 2018, but came to a halt during COVID.
Fundraising started last summer with $15 million already compiled in private donations.
The hope is Cornerstone’s expansion would increase the amount of teams it hosts by 25 percent each year, make it a regular destination for national hockey tournaments, and perhaps even lure the state WIAA hockey tournament away from a 2,600 seat arena in Middleton.
“We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars in just room tax money, with the local economy, it’s millions of dollars,” said Buckley of the impact Cornerstone’s expansion is projected to have.
“We’re kind of in a unique situation,” said Chilson. “Because of the Packers we have a ton of hotel rooms. We’re a small town, but we’re able to host these large events just because the amount of facilities that are here in Green Bay.”
The goal is to break ground this fall and be ready for action a year later.
Comments