New Beginnings construction ready to start

Construction of the long-awaited new home of the New Beginnings program is scheduled to begin Sept. 7 on the grounds of New View Industries in Gillett.

Oconto County Health and Human Services Director Mike Reimer said the targeted completion date is April 1, although delays are possible.

“We’re excited that it’s finally going to begin,” Reimer said. “So when you go to Gillett, you can see the construction site starting.”

The $1.732 million project is for a 6,000-square-foot facility on West Park Street for the New Beginnings resale store, replacing the existing store in Oconto Falls, as well as a computer lab, small group meeting rooms, a kitchen commons, multipurpose activity room and a counseling room, along with associated storage and other facilities.

The Samuels Group, the company that guided the $30 million Law Enforcement Center project to fruition four years ago, is overseeing the project. Ziese Construction, of Green Bay, earned the contract with a bid of $1.477 million, to be paid from the county’s Community Development Block Grant account.

The county had allocated $50,000 in matching funds and took the extra $350,000 from its federal American Rescue Funds allocation of $7.367 million.

The New Beginnings training program for at-risk youth and its accompanying retail store began 20 years ago in downtown Gillett and relocated in 2013 to its current site at 239 Van Buren St., Oconto Falls.