KEWAUNEE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – An improvement project along the Lakeshore is scheduled to start this summer.
The section of the harbor in Kewaunee is known as Fisherman’s Point.
Behind the gate on North Main Street, old, seemingly neglected buildings sit empty. Accurate Marine Owner Tom Kleiman tells FOX 11 Fisherman’s Point may have seen better days.
“I drive through here all the time, and I see people coming through, tourists taking pictures. That property is always right there.”
Kewaunee leaders hope to turn the spigot of land into an asset for the city.
“It’s an old industrial site. The city received about $1.75 million to redo that site. And there’s two big things that we’re doing there. One’s a demolition project, so blight elimination. We’re going to eliminate all the blight there,” said Fred Schnook, Kewaunee City Administrator.
Schnook says over the last two years, record-high Lake Michigan water levels meant the site was largely underwater. With levels down about a foot and a half, he tells FOX 11 the time to work is now.
“The plan is to raise that whole spigot of land about three feet.”
Schnook says crews will take soil samples to check for any contamination. He says the plan is to level the site. But some people say the city should consider its options.
“It would be great to have something very attractive on that point. It’s good news that something’s going to happen, we’re just really anxious to find out what that might be,” said Kleiman.
“It’s going to be a green space probably for the first few years, until the community starts doing some more advanced planning, and we talk to developers about what they would like to see on there, and we talked to our council about what they would like to see on there,” said Schnook.
City leaders say block grants from the Wisconsin Department of Administration, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development paid for the project.
Work is expected to be completed by next summer.
