GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Most of the money requested to bring a beach back to Bay Beach Amusement Park is now in place.
The city council voted last night (Monday) to borrow $5 million of the $7 million project.
Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt is excited.
“We’ll be putting these projects out to bid, but we’ve been working on this for some time, so we’re confident that beach can open in 2019.”
The project includes the sand beach, a boardwalk, bathhouse, pier, new parking lots, and renovations to the pavilion.
Alderman John VanderLeest was the lone council member to vote against borrowing the money..
“My thought is if Bay Beach can set aside $500,000 for the next six years, they would have $3 million right up without any bonding.”
“The other part of this is there is an expiration date on these DNR permits,” said Alderman Joe Moore.
“They don’t go on forever. We have three years and that would really mean we would have to have all this construction underway probably in 18 months and that’s not going put a lot of money into that saving account.”
The DNR issued the final permits for the project last week.
However, the city still must work with the DNR on a plan for monitoring the water quality before the beach can open to the public.
“I can’t tell you that beach is going to be open every day, but I tell you when it is open, it’s going to be as safe as any other beach in Wisconsin,” said Schmitt.
In addition to the $5 million loan, the city plans to fundraise and gather grants for the project’s remaining $2 million.
The fundraising group, the Friends of Bay Beach, also donated $2.1 million to purchase and install a new Ferris wheel.
It’s supposed to be ready for next year and will overlook the beach and bay.
