FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — The City of Fond du Lac is taking another step to develop its riverfront near downtown.
- Fond du Lac is in the process of purchasing property on the river downtown as part of its Riverfront Plan.
- The current building will be town down.
- The city is still working out what this property will be.
The property between Forest Avenue and First Street, formerly occupied by Somewhere Bar, now sits vacant. But, Fond du Lac is in the process of buying the property as part of its Riverfront Plan.
"We've stepped into a long range plan to develop the riverfront itself, so it's more of an attraction," Fond du Lac City Manager Joe Moore said. "And this piece of property really contributes to that."
Moore said the city plans to buy it for about $170,000 from ARPA money. Once they own it, Moore said they'll demolish it.
But what will go up?
Moore said they're still working on that. But first, they want to improve the aesthetic of the river.
"There's such a variety of ways that the river banks have been shored over the years," Moore said. "There's wood, there's stone, we want to sort of unify all of that."
People who live here tell me that work is needed.
"Cleaning it up, honestly I think is, would be the biggest thing," resident Tabatha Bott said.
"I think it's a very good idea to develop it further, because it will be a big asset to Fond du Lac," resident Jamie Guiscafre said.
Neighbors I spoke with have a lot of ideas on what they’d like to see by the river.
"There's so much potential we can do... places to eat, places to sit, walking paths would be nice," resident Ruth Cunzenheim said.
Moore said the city will begin to fill in more details of investment on the riverfront this summer.
