DE PERE — Government, business, and educational leaders from around the city gathered Wednesday afternoon at St. Norbert College for the state of the De Pere event to highlight key achievements in 2022 and look ahead to what's to come for the city in 2023.
Executive Director of Definitely De Pere, Tina Quigley, said that the downtown district received more than eight million dollars in private investments this year and saw 15 new business openings.
Quigley said that number is more than double the average in similar sized cities used as a benchmark. She said that she doesn't see that amount of investment decreasing in 2023.
"I am continuously and have been throughout 2022 continuously working with up to a dozen businesses that are either looking to relocate downtown De Pere or open a new business," said Quigley
Both Quigley and Mayor Boyd mentioned the importance of coming up with a plan this year alongside developers for the vacant Shopko building that occupies prime real estate near the center of downtown.
"The Shopko, the developers of the whole Shopko property lot, which is going to add a tremendous amount of not only residential, but also additional mixed use space," said Quigley
Mayor Boyd said other than the Mulva Cultural Center, one of the biggest projects to watch is construction of the Nelson Family Pavilion in Voyageur Park.
"We anticipate it could bring upwards to a hundred thousand people to the area. People can rent the facility, they can have concerts held there," said Boyd.
Over the coming months the De Pere common council will also work on plans for affordable housing.
"We have to be creative and try to figure out ways to make someone stay in De Pere affordably and help people move out and move up, or simply move in for the first time," said Boyd.
The city plans on holding new marquee events this year including a bike race which Quigley said is the largest cycling series race in the nation.
She says that the Tour of America's Dairyland will take place in June and draw over 500 professional and amateur racers from over 15 countries and 40 states.
