Wherever it ends up being located, a boutique supper club and lodging facility on the waterfront would be a key component of the plan, task force members agreed.
Member Chuck Dallas said it would be a draw for companies looking to put up out-of-town clients and vendors, especially if there is access to a meeting room.
“This is something that would cater to corporate America and those on a higher wage scale,” he said.
Boat slips are also proposed to bring boaters off the river to the supper club.
Maloney said the conceptual plan was drawn from community feedback. That included private stakeholder meetings with some community members — such as the Shawano Country Chamber of Commerce, SMC Board of Directors, Shawano County Economic Progress Inc., area Realtors and others — and responses to an online survey conducted by the Park and Recreation Department.
“This is by no means the final step in the process. It’s just the beginning,” he said. “Everything is still on the table, including what these uses are.”
The proposal would retain much of the SMC building, including making use of the existing kitchen to facilitate a cafe that would be part of the meeting and community center.
One building, which houses the hospital’s radiology department, would be removed to provide a new entrance for senior housing.
Some task force members were skeptical, however, about whether senior housing was the best fit for that location.
“If we want to take advantage of the waterfront view and all that stuff, then senior living is not necessarily what we should be interested in, if that’s what we’re trying to accomplish,” Hilgenberg said.
Brian Vandewalle said it would ultimately be developers who would determine the most commercially viable uses for the site, but some kind of vision of what the community wants to see there has to be offered.
“The only way we’re going to know is to lay that out there and see if there is tenant or developer or user interest in these kinds of things,” he said. “The first thing is to create a vision that might attract tenants. You’re at the vision point; you’re not trying to adopt a plan. Don’t think of this as a plan, even if it goes to the Plan Commission.”
Task force chair Jeanne Cronce said development at the site could ultimately be different than currently envisioned, but this was a start.
“This is a vision, not the definite plan,” she said. “You have to start somewhere. It doesn’t mean that’s what we have to do. This is a stepping stone.”
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