A rendering of Green Bay's proposed beach project at Bay Beach Amusement Park. (Photo courtesy: City of Green Bay)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The future is uncertain for a project at Bay Beach Amusement Park that’s been years in the making after construction bids came in higher than expected.
A long, wooden pier jetting out into the Bay, first proposed as part of a larger beach restoration project at Bay Beach, is going to cost significantly more than expected, according to Alderperson Melinda Eck.
“It’s very disappointing, because I feel like everybody is like, ‘This is taking forever,'” said Eck. “How many years has this been in the plan?”
Now called a wildlife viewing platform, the cost of installing the 425-foot structure received two bids from construction companies. One said it can build the platform for $5 million and the other for $5.2 million.
“Basically, they’re kind of looking at the bids and trying to figure out how it could work, as far as the budget, because right now, it’s not fitting in the budget,” said Eck, summarizing what she was told by Green Bay Parks Director Dan Ditscheit about the project’s status.
The city was awarded a $2.4 million grant from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in September 2024. At that time, Ditscheit said there should be plenty of money for the project between the grant and money remaining from $5 million borrowed in 2018.
That $5 million was for a larger plan to also bring a beach back to the amusement park for the first time since the early 1940s. But fluctuating water levels, increased costs and the lack of fundraising for $2 million to pair with the borrowed money led to the project being split into phases in 2020.
Ditscheit said they’re still going over the bids and funding. We’d like to ask him if there is enough funding, why it’s taken so long to put this project out to bid after the grant was awarded 20 months ago and if there’s any hope of ever getting to the second phase of bringing back a sand beach.
“Everybody would like this done,” said Eck. “I know it’s been something that the public seems to be excited about.”
Reports previously said some of the original $5 million borrowed was already spent on preliminary infrastructure for the viewing platform and engineering work.
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