APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Trout Museum of Art is looking at other options for the site of its new facility, now that it’s no longer considering the Ellen Kort Peace Park.
The museum announced Wednesday that it is exploring other options. That’s because the environmental site assessment indicated “there may be a greater than expected financial and regulatory burden related to the site’s clean up, beyond the known history of the site.”
After months of fighting to save the park named after their mother, the daughters of Ellen Kort, Wisconsin’s first poet laureate, finally had their moment to rejoice.
“This is a huge victory for Ellen’s family,” said Jayme Blieck-Baehnman. “We are so thankful for all the community support on this long trail and this victory.”
“It’s just a gift for mom,” said Cindy Kort. “She’s been with us along this whole journey, and it just all exploded today. It’s wonderful.”
“It was nothing but tears and joy because this is what it should’ve been from the beginning,” said Kerry Kort Williamsen.
Kort’s daughters Kerry, Jamie and Cindy said the initial reaction was pure joy.
“It makes you realize how important it is when a community comes together and fights a fight for the right reasons,” said Kort Williamsen. “This was definitely for the right reasons.”
“Every bit of it was worth it,” said Blieck-Baehnman. “It was worth it to for her legacy — to honor her legacy.”
“Our mom just gave so many gifts to our community, and this will be so great to get this park finished and continue with the gift that we’ll all be down here sharing,” said Kort.
Appleton’s Parks Director Dean Gazza said that doesn’t rule out any future expansion of park amenities.
“If you start putting a building on the site and start excavating, there’s additional costs for that,” Gazza said. “We won’t have a need for that, maintaining it as a park. But it doesn’t rule it out, the event, say, someone wants to put a pavilion there.”
Despite having initial interest in the location, the Trout Museum’s Executive Director Christina Turner even voted against building at the park after hearing about the findings.
“The environmental reports and other factors together made it financially more of a risk for a non-profit like the Trout Museum of Art,” Turner said. “So, we’re excited to find the right location where we can further our mission.”
Turner said there’s no disappointment in the change of plans. Instead, she’s excited to move forward with alternative locations.
“The board of directors decided we were going to start looking for a different site because our current location is about 100 years old and needs significant renovations in order for us to continue here.”
At the time of the decision, the Appleton common council was in the fourth stage of a seven step process for the museum relocation.
This comes two weeks after Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford provided an update about the relocation effort. His audience included a crowd wearing white shirts to support saving the park, as the site has garnered quite a bit of controversy since it was proposed last summer.
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