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Development In The Fox Valley At A Frenetic Pace
by Bob
Lowe
October 15, 2004
Development in the Fox Valley has been proceeding at an unprecedented
pace in recent months. The construction boom has been occurring
in both the private and public sectors. There have been quite
an upsurge in the construction, expansion and redevelopment
of river front properties, shopping centers, office buildings,
sporting facilities, hotels and resort areas, hospitals, schools,
parks, recreational areas, restaurants, retail outlets, condominiums
and various other kinds of housing.
Municipalities
have also built several new road and street projects and other
infrastructure improvements like bridges, airports and sewage
treatment plants. This avalanche of projects have not only
significantly altered the landscape, it has brought an enhanced
status to the area, giving it more of a big-city feel.
That
excitement was evident when Air Force One landed at the Outagamie
County Airport in Greenville back in March carrying President
George Bush to a speaking engagement at the two-year-old $50
million Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in downtown Appleton.
The sleek-looking Boeing 747 touched down on a newly revitalized
facility that underwent a $12.3 million expansion and remodeling
of its main terminal building just two years ago. The show
piece of this expansion is the 42,300 square foot passenger
concourse that increased the size of the terminal by a third.
The airport is now served by Northwest, United, Midwest and
Delta airlines and recently added the Minneapolis-based Sun
County Airlines, which will offer charter flights to Las Vegas.
At the current pace, the airport would board 280,133 passengers
in 2004, up 5.4% from the record of 265,756 established in
1999. The airport has proved to be a catalyst for regional
growth and development. It generates in excess of $200 million
in sales annually, according to the state Department of Transportation,
and supports the equivalent of 2,908 full-time jobs.
A
major focus of development in the Fox Cities has been the
Fox River Mall in the Town of Grand Chute, which celebrated
its 20th anniversary this summer. The regional mall occupies
1,039,900 square feet on 137 acres of land west of U.S. 41
between College and Wisconsin avenues. It is main tourist
attraction in the area, according to Lynn Peters, executive
director of the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau.
When the mall opened on July 18, 1984, it had one anchor –
Sears – and 72 specialty shops. Today, in addition to
Sears, it also hosts such anchor stores as J.C. Penney, Marshall
Field’s, Younkers, Target and, most recently, Scheels
All Sports. It continues to attract other national chains
like Cost Plus World Market, Linen ‘N Things, DSW, Pottery
Barn, Coldwater Creek, Chico’s and J. Jill. The mall
and its surrounding out lots account for an estimated $250
million in revenues annually, according to John Burgland,
Fox River Mall manager.
Another
mall, Valley Fair, on South Memorial Drive in Appleton, is
currently undergoing a major renovation by its new owner,
YouthFutures, Inc., to convert it into a "youth town."
The goal is to provide a safe, wholesome and fun atmosphere
for youth to gather. Among its existing businesses are Area
51 Skatepark, Borderline Pro Shop, Hip Hop Shop clothing store,
Caffe Tazza, Extreme PC Computer Arcade, Precision Styles
Salon and YouthFutures Retail Experience. Other
ventures planned are Bergstrom Tuner Shop automotive course,
Chance II charter school, Chris Farley Comedy Club, Matt’s
House youth complex, Paintball and Appleton Smoothies ice
cream shop.
Retail
development has also expanded quite rapidly in recent months.
When Wal-Mart completed building its 24-hour Supercenter store
at 1155 Winneconne Avenue on Neenah’s west side in March
of this year, Neenah Mayor George Scherck stated the development
transformed Neenah into "a complete city."
Wal-Mart has also built two Supercenter stores in Appleton
and one in Oshkosh within the past three years.
Also
establishing a presence in this market are Gordmans, the Omaha,
Neb.-based discount stores, which built two stores, at 3825
E. Calumet Street, east of Wal-Mart, and the former K-mart
location at 4741 W. Lawrence St., in Grand Chute, south of
the Fox River Mall. Sam’s Club opened a larger location
on Westhill Boulevard to replace the store it formerly operated
west of the Fox River Mall. There also has been a proliferation
of dollar stores – Dollar General, Family Dollar, Dollar
Tree, Dollar Wise and Dollar Planet.
Allied
Pools is building a new store at the southwest corner of Wisconsin
Avenue and McCarthy Drive in the Town of Grand Chute, a couple
of miles west of the Fox River Mall. Mills Fleet Farm is building
a massive 270,338-square foot store to replace the existing
store at Wisconsin Avenue and Bluemound Drive in Grand Chute.
During the past three years, the Fox Cities have also seen
the greatest expansion of eating establishments and coffee
houses in its history. Among the new entries are Confucius,
an elegant Chinese restaurant at 2230 E. Northland Ave., Appleton;
GingeRootz Asian Grille, another Chinese restaurant nearby
at 2920 N. Ballard Road; Krispy Kreme doughnut shop at W.
College Avenue and Bluemound Drive; Caliban's Irish Pub in
downtown Neenah; Atlanta Bread Co. and Pancheros Mexican restaurant,
both in the strip commercial shopping center at 3719 E. Calumet
St., near the east side Appleton Wal-Mart Supercenter; Ground
Round Grill & Bar, 1010 Cameron Way, in Neenah; A Taste
of India, 2333 W. Wisconsin Ave. in Grand Chute; Grazies Pasta
Co. in Darboy; Smokin's J's BBQ, 527 W. College Ave. in downtown
Appleton; and two Starbucks coffee shops at State 441 and
Calumet Street on Appleton's east side and at 4339 W. Wisconsin
Ave., near the Sears store at the Fox River Mall.
Applebee's
Neighborhood Grill & Bar plans to open its third outlet
at 1125 Westowne Drive, just west of Neenah. And John Jungers,
longtime owner of the historic Adler Brau, Appleton's first
brew pub in the Between the Locks Mall on South Olde Oneida
Street, has sold the establishments to Tom and Steve Lonsway.
Beginning in January, the brew pub will be expanded with a
new menu and renamed Stone Cellar Brewpub and Restaurant.
Quite
a bit of the development has been taking place in and around
area downtowns. Among some of the latest projects:
-
The City of Neenah has initiated the $3.3 million waterfront
development at Shattuck Park near the library. The centerpiece
of the project is a new pavilion that will be built in the
park. Crews from Miron Construction Co. of the Town of Menasha
are currently doing excavation work on the site. The work
will be completed next summer.
- Affinity
Health Systems is in the midst of a $110 million eight-year
renovation of its St. Elizabeth Hospital campus on South
Oneida Street in Appleton. The project includes a 438-stall,
three-story ramp, a new main entrance and renovation and
expansion of radiology and outpatient diagnostic services,
a new emergency department and expansion of ambulatory facilities.
- Preparation
work has already begun on the construction of Alta Resources
$20 million office building at Canal and Commercial streets
in downtown Neenah. The teleservice company’s seven-story,
179,200-square-foot building will accommodate 1,000 employees
and will be completed in a year.
- Residents
have already started moving in to the $6 million Marina
Place, a five-story 41-unit apartment building and 12 townhouses
on the waterfront in downtown Menasha.
- The
former Thrivent building at 222 W. College Ave., is currently
undergoing renovations to accommodate some new clients,
including Affinity Health System, which is leasing three
floors.
- Construction
got underway in May on the three-story, 95-room Bridgewood
Hotel and Conference Center, 1000 Cameron Way, Neenah, which
will become part of the $35 million redevelopment of the
Bridgewood Golf Course.
- Both
the Towns of Grand Chute and Menasha have built new municipal
buildings within the past few years.
-
The City of Appleton is encouraging private redevelopment
along the Fox River in the downtown area. Lawrence University
recently completed construction of the $15 million Hiett
Hall housing complex. J's Restaurant opened in the past
year and just to the east of that is the Paper Industry
International Hall of Fame, which is slated to open later
this fall. Eventually, the city’s new Vulcan Heritage
Park will present a splendid attraction of its own.
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