There was a good turnout Wednesday for a special community meeting & open house to consider conceptual designs for public areas along Sturgeon Bay’s west side waterfront. Representatives from the consulting firm of Vandewalle & Associates presented information on their ideas related a festival waterfront that pulls together private development, the Door County Maritime Museum & public areas to create a year-round destination. Vandewalle’s Dean Procter said the waterfront concept is intended to support better uses for the area, including the former Door County Cooperative property, create a community space, provide access for both commercial & recreational purposes., & maintain a working waterfront. Strategies included developing a flexible & unified site, oriented to activity on the water, that could be developed on a moderate budget & be easy to maintain. Procter said the walkway promenade, pier & the festival character of the area could enhance Sturgeon Bay’s reputation as an interesting destination…[audio:http://wdor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/N1510.mp3|titles=Dean Procter ]
Procter said the public projects would likely be phased in…[audio:http://wdor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/N1511.mp3|titles=Dean Procter ]
During the meeting, it was also pointed out that the acquisition of grant funds could be tapped into to cover some of the costs of developing areas of the west side waterfront.
Sturgeon Bay Mayor Thad Birmingham says, even though it may not seem so on the surface, progress is being made on the effort to upgrade key areas of the city’s west side. Birmingham says everything is moving in the right direction, the process just takes time…[audio:http://wdor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/N1512.mp3|titles=Mayor Thad Birmingham]
Birmingham says the city will make its contribution, but it can’t do it all…[audio:http://wdor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/N1513.mp3|titles=Mayor Thad Birmingham]
During discussion at Wednesday’s meeting on proposed public areas for Sturgeon Bay’s west side waterfront, it was noted that there is the potential that private development in the area could be in the neighborhood of 16 million dollars.
