UW- Green Bay Marinette is one of three branch campuses of the UWGB system. PC: Fox 11 Online
MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The future of the former UW-Green Bay Marinette campus is still unclear, but a new committee has been tasked with helping to decide what’s next for the property.
The campus has sat empty for more than two years. Community members and Marinette County officials want to see something done with the site. What that ends up being may be in the hands of the recently-created Redevelopment Committee.
“There seems to be a general feeling in the public that they’d like to look at options that would keep the land in public ownership and enhance the community and build forward,” Redevelopment Committee Vice Chair and Marinette County Board Supervisor Stan Gruszynski said.
To get a broad perspective of what the property entails, the committee toured the campus Thursday. The group consists of elected officials and members of the public from across Marinette County.
Gruszynski said he thinks it would be a waste to simply bulldoze the campus buildings and sell the property. However, depending on which buildings are retained, many will require renovations — which could be costly.
“As is usually the case, money is the issue. I mean, how much does the community want to invest in keeping a facility like this in some way?” Gruszynski said.
Potential ideas for the property include reviving it as an educational institution and moving the Marinette Public Library there. Interest from an American Indian tribe, area civic groups and nonprofits has also been expressed.
“We would love to see it as a cultural center. I think everybody would appreciate that. We definitely want to see this theater remain in the area because of its rich history and what it brings to a community,” Association for Culture and Community President Wendy Dzurick said.
Another contender for part of the property is the Greater Marinette-Menominee YMCA, which said it would have a purchase agreement and relocate its services to the campus fieldhouse. The total cost of this is still undetermined, but that could impact whether this proposal is feasible.
Marinette Mayor Steve Genisot said he is happy more discussions are taking place. He hopes to see as much of the property saved as possible.
“We’ve been working on it for the last couple years, and it’s not a quick action thing, but we’d like to see at least the things that we can agree on continue to move forward,” Genisot said.
As of now, what happens next at this campus is still up in the air. The committee hopes to present its recommendation to the Marinette County Board in about nine months.
The UWGB Marinette campus closed in spring 2024 due to declining enrollment and budget deficits.
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