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Exposition Center To Occupy Former Grocery Store Site
by Bob
Lowe
September 21, 2004
The former Piggly Wiggly store at 3000 E. College Avenue will
be seeing new life as an exposition center for home and trade
shows. GRK Promotional Group, the new owner of the 43,000
square foot building, recently announced plans for 25 different
trade and expo shows already booked for this year and next.
Greg Kinley, venue manager, said the expositions will bring
40 new jobs to the area, along with thousands of vendors each
year.
Jay
Schumerth, general manager of the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel
in downtown Appleton, while welcoming the development, said
he has reservations about the name, Fox Cities Convention
Center. "Calling it a convention center is misleading,"
he told The Post-Crescent. "That’s not what a convention
center is. A convention center has breakout rooms, a beverage
service operation or hotel rooms there or nearby."
Kinley
said plans for the center have been in the works for the past
two years. Things came together this spring when the Piggly
Wiggly store closed and vacated the space. "We have been
looking for something for a while, but this was the right
size," Kinley said. "This place is big enough and
it’s just an awesome building. It’s not very old
and we just have to do some minor renovations to it to get
it ready." The new expo center will be hosting shows
that are mostly free," he said. "In addition, the
center will work to keep vendor participation costs low."
***
TRESTLE TRAIL – A mile-long trestle trail over Little
Lake Butte des Mort will draw tourists to the area. The Fox
Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau announced it will
contribute $100,000 to support development of the 1,600-foot
trail, which will be the longest recreational trail crossing
a body of water in the state. Jake General Contractors of
Wausau submitted the low bid of $1.32.This amount does not
include construction of a lift bridge for trail users to get
across the Menasha lock.
George
Dearborn, Town of Menasha community development director who
is working with City of Menasha officials on the project,
said only about $1 million has been raised for the project.
"We’ll continue to look at other sources of funding,"
he said." It’s a public-private partnership."
Construction could begin as early as this fall and be completed
by March 31. Bidding for the lift bridge across the lock is
expected to be done once engineering work is completed. Town
and city officials are working on establishing trail links
to the trestle, which eventually will become part of a state
Friendship Trail between Manitowoc and Stevens Point.
***
YOUTH
MALL – The first indoor mall built in the U.S. is about
to be transformed into a youth mall. YouthFutures, a nonprofit
community-based organization, recently signed the final papers
taking over ownership of the Valley Fair Mall from Farm Bureau
Life Financial Group of Iowa for $2 million.
Plans
call for transforming the shopping center into a "youth
town," with businesses, a town square, entertainment,
social events and education programs geared toward a 13-24-year-old
demographic. Renovations have already begun on the mall, whose
new name will be YouthFutures’ Valley Fair.
***
FVS
BEGINS SEASON – The Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra begins
is 37th season at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday Sept. 28 with a performance
by flutist Sir James Galway. All concerts will be presented
at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in downtown Appleton.
Knighted by the Queen of England in 2001, Sir James Galway
will be making his debut appearance with the Fox Valley Symphony.
He will be featured on Mozart’s "Flute Concerto
No. 2 in D Major."
The
85-member orchestra, under the direction of maestro Brian
Groner, will perform Shostakovich’s "Symphony No.
1 in F Minor." The orchestra also will perform "En
Bateau," Clair de Lune" and "Little Shepherd"
by Debussy and "Baby Elephant Walk," "Penny
Whistle Gig," and "Pink Panther" from legendary
composer Henry Mancini. The concert will be preceded by a
6 p.m. dinner in the Kimberly-Clark Theater in the PAC.. "Gershwin
with Nicholas Roth" is the title of the second subscription
concert scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday Oct. 16. Roth, a
protégé of America’s greatest Gershwin
interpreter, Ralph Votapek, will provide new insight into
the music this American musical icon.
The
program will include Gershwin’s "Piano Concerto
in F," a stunning blend of Impressionism and jazz. Also
on the bill are the hot rhythms of the Cuban Overture, coupled
with one of music’s most powerful statements, Brahms’
"Symphony No. 4 in E Minor". The Moscow Classical
Ballet makes another appearance with the FVS at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 3 & 4. This perennial holiday favorite
features Tchaikovsky's delightful composition while one of
Europe's premier dance companies will provide a thrilling
blend of holiday sights and sounds.
Violinist
Caitlin Tully, a 17-year-old student of master violinist Itzhak
Perlman, will be the guest artist at 7:30 p.m. Friday Feb.
11. On the program will be Saint-Saens "Introduction
and Rondo Capriccioso," as well as Tchaikovsky’s
"Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy." The concert
celebrates the poetic art of Shakespeare and an era of Romance
with Mendelssohn’s "Overture to a Mid Summer Night’s
Dream, Opus 21, Edward Green’s "Music For Shakespeare"
and Chausson’s "Poeme Opus 25."
The
Fox Valley Symphony’s Youth Orchestras spring concert
is set for 7 p.m. March 6. Cost is $6 for students and $10
for adults. "An Evening of Bernstein and Stravinsky"
is the program scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday April 8, featuring
the voices of the White Heron Chorale and the Lawrence Concert
Choir under the direction of Richard Bjella, Lawrence University
choral director. The concert will feature the spirituality
of Bernstein "Chicester Psalms" and "Symphony
of Psalms," along with the passion of Stravinsky’s
"Firebird Suite." The FVS annual pops concert will
wrap up the 2004-2005 season with David Clayton-Thomas and
Blood, Sweat and Tears at 7:30 p.m. Saturday May 7. Relive
some magic moments with favorites like "Spinning Wheel"
and "You’ve Made Me So Very Happy."
Tickets range in price from $17-$45 and can be reserved by
calling 730-3760. For more information, log onto www.foxvalleysymphony.com.
***
FOX
RIVER LOCKS – Ownership of the 132-year-old Fox River
Locks system has been transferred from the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers to the state Building Commission, ending a 22-year
battle to keep the lock system from being permanently sealed.
The agreement puts the state in charge of the 17 locks and
140 acres of land along the 39 miles of the Fox River. The
Fox River Management Authority will oversee restoration of
the locks system.
The
locks is a movable barrier across the waterway that allows
boats to pass from one body of water to another by raising
or lowering water levels within the lock chamber. The Authority
will pay $1 annually to lease the system and use a portion
of the interest from $11.8 million in federal funds presented
to the state as part of the transfer for operation of the
locks. The Corps has pledged an additional $5.5 million in
federal funds. The Authority meanwhile has kicked off fund-raising
effort to obtain $2.75 million in local funds needed to attract
matching funds for the development and maintenance of the
lock system.
NEENAH
RIVER PROJECT – The construction of the Neenah Riverwalk
Project at Shattuck Park got underway this week. Miron Construction
Co. submitted the low bid of $3.19 million to carry out the
waterfront improvement project. A $100,000 construction management
contract with Hitchcock Design Group of Naperville, Ill.,
and a $60,000 contingency bring the total cost of the project
to $3.35 million or $150,000 over budge. The Riverwalk will
create a barrier-free walkway along the Fox river, between
the N. Commercial Street and Oak Street bridges. The centerpiece
will b4e Shattuck Park, which will feature a new two-story
pavilion with rest rooms and a fireplace, an interactive found,
a walkout pier with places for fishing and tie-ups for boaters
and a terraced lawn for performances and festivals. The reconstruction
of the parking lot at the Neenah Public Library will be part
of the project.
***
ATTIC-PAC
PARTNERSHIP ENDS – Attic Theater and the Fox Cities
Performing Arts Center will end its partnership that saw the
summer stock theater perform its plays in the PAC’s
Kimberly-Clark’s Theater. C.J. Washington, Attic’s
executive director, said in retrospect, it was not a good
fit to host the plays in the PAC venue.
Traditionally,
Attic is used to proscenium-style productions and had a hard
time adjusting to the K-C theater’s "black box"
multipurpose performance space. To put on its productions,
Attic had to install its own stage and deal with limited backstage
amenities. There was no space to build sets and rehearse actors
until the previous show had closed. "I loved the people
there," Washington said of the PAC. "But the bottom
line is (the Kimberly-Clark Theater) is not a theater space."
The K-C space is used mostly for sales meeting, corporate
parties, weddings and private, nontheatrical events.
PAC
officials said it can be a viable theater space. In January,
the theater will present the "Shakespeare on the Fox"
festival featuring performances of "Romeo and Juliet"
and actress Claire Bloom’s one-woman show. Attic has
not ruled out doing cabaret-style events and fund-raisers
in the theater in the future. For the short term, Attic plans
to return to the Lawrence University Music and Drama Center,
where it has access to two theaters. Attic hopes to finds
its own presentation space within the next five years.
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