'Is this a $180M mistake?': Business owners, city leaders worry about impact of moving justice center from downtown Stevens Point
Caitlin Shuda, Stevens Point Journal
7 min read
STEVENS POINT – Some city leaders and business owners think Portage County’s decision to move its justice center out of downtown Stevens Point and build at the edge of the city is a multimillion-dollar mistake.
Business owners are worried the county's decision to leave the downtown and build on a "greenfield site" supports a false narrative that the downtown area is dying and point to studies that show the importance of government buildings in downtowns. Others are concerned it will create a ripple effect of other related businesses leaving downtown. City leaders say their advice and expertise was dismissed.
County Board members voted by a 15-10 margin April 18 to move forward with plans for a new justice center at the edge of the city, and they must vote Tuesday on whether to borrow up to $180 million to build it. The vote on funding the project requires a three-fourths majority to advance.
It's an amount of money that surprises Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza, who said it should raise an eyebrow for everybody.
In earlier meetings, TEGRA, a Minnesota-based real estate consulting company, shared cost estimates for both downtown and greenfield sites. Wiza said TEGRA left out information on acreage and infrastructure costs on those estimates. If the city was involved in discussions, Wiza said city staff could have provided exact costs and much more accurate information than estimates and averages.
County leaders claimed they would only have 5 or 6 acres of land downtown, but Wiza said the city has continued to offer to transfer ownership of several city-owned properties to help provide the county more than 14 acres of land in the downtown.
"Everybody has a stake in this," Wiza said. "Is this a $180 million mistake?"
After the County Board’s April 18 vote, the Stevens Point Journal talked to downtown business owners who expressed concerns about the vote and how it was decided.
The Portage County Law Enforcement Center is seen on April 25 in Stevens Point. The Portage County Board voted on April 18 to place a proposed new justice center at a green space on the edge of the city.
'The Stevens Point downtown is not dead'
Lyn Ciurro, one of the owners of Bound to Happen Books, said they have attended meetings on the topic before the pandemic and sat in two courtrooms full of people who disagreed with the option to build a new justice center on land on the outskirts of town.
“As a business owner and a Stevens Point citizen, I’m concerned with the failure of our County Board to listen to its constituents on this issue,” they said. “It seems like they got an idea in their head and are deciding to run with it when there are multiple solutions with far fewer consequences than creating their new site at the edge of the city.”
Ciurro said the downtown area is a vital commercial and community hub that offers retail, restaurants and other services that draw people from all over central Wisconsin. They said they’re afraid the county’s decision to relocate to the outskirts of the city has potential to support the delusion that downtown is dead.
“Contrary to what the County Board believes, the Stevens Point downtown is not dead,” they said. “I would invite the County Board supervisors who believe our downtown is dead to actually visit our downtown and tune in to the meetings being held to further revitalize this area before they take action that would work against our county’s seat.”
The president of the downtown business alliance said County Board members were not given all of the information they needed to make a good decision, and not all members did their homework. The president claimed letters that were written by those in favor of keeping the justice center in the downtown area were not given to board members.
Wiza said the city received letters from judges, the district attorney and business owners in the downtown area pleading for the county to keep the justice center in the downtown because of the economic impact.
Stevens Point city hall and the Portage County courthouse are seen on April 25 in downtown Stevens Point.
Will there be a ripple effect if the justice center relocates?
Some downtown businesses would see more direct results from the county moving its justice center to the edge of town, like restaurants that offer takeout and deliveries to county employees. Most business owners, though, say it’s hard to estimate how much their business would be affected by that move. A few business owners told the Stevens Point Journal they’re more concerned with other businesses and offices that might follow the justice center out of the downtown area.
Craig Shuler, who owns Mission Coffee House’s site in downtown Stevens Point, said while he’s not concerned about the courthouse or county offices moving, he would be more worried about other offices that could follow. Right now, there are good reasons for law offices to operate in the downtown area, he said. Lawyers can easily meet up for coffee or to go to the courthouse all in the same area. When the courthouse moves, Shuler wonders if lawyers will follow.
The downtown business alliance president also showed concern that lawyers, paralegals, accountants and other professionals would relocate out of the downtown to maintain convenience.
Anderson O'Brien is one of those law offices operating downtown. The firm includes 37 attorneys and staff who work downtown because of its efficiency and proximity to the court system and related agencies, said Brian Formella, a partner at the law firm.
Formella said he and his colleagues are trying legal cases, attending meetings and running errands to government offices every day, as well as frequenting downtown restaurants, stores and banking downtown daily. He said he and his colleagues use their offices to initially meet with clients and prepare for court, but they frequently take clients to lunch and order takeout from downtown restaurants for meetings over the lunch hour.
Formella shared a 2005 University of Wisconsin-Extension study, titled "The Importance of Government Facilities in Downtowns: An Analysis of Business Establishments in Wisconsin's County Seats," with the Stevens Point Journal. It concludes that public facilities are essential for healthy, strong and vibrant downtowns, and many communities have experienced economic and social benefits when such buildings expand in the downtown area.
The study determined public buildings like municipal buildings, courthouses, libraries and post offices are essential parts of healthy downtowns, and when those entities move out of the downtown areas, those communities saw declines in people spending their time and money in the downtown area. According to the study, a town hall might bring in 200-500 people a day. Place Economics, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm, determined government workers spend between $2,500 and $3,500 each year in the downtown area, according to the study.
A view down Main Street in downtown Stevens Point on April 25 from Mathias Mitchell Public Square.
Redevelopment is key if the county moves out of downtown
As Portage County gets closer to building a new facility and moving out of the downtown area, redevelopment plans will be vital for the area. While the decision to build elsewhere won’t likely affect any development plans already in the works, vacant county buildings won’t be easy to redevelop.
“Unless someone’s going to turn the jail into a weird bed and breakfast, someone’s going to have to pay to demolish and bring in developers,” Wiza said.
And sometimes, that takes a lot of time. Wiza pointed to the old Lullabye Furniture Co. property that sat vacant for more than 20 years before being redeveloped into North Side Yard apartments.
If the county pulls up all its stakes downtown, Wiza said he would insist the county leave the sites development-ready so those spaces are easier to market for development, rather than abandoning buildings and leaving them to fall apart.
Wiza said the city values its location downtown and has no intentions to leave the downtown area. If the county’s decision affects the city’s current operations, there are other city-owned buildings in the area and other options the city could look at to remain downtown.
Shuler said he sees the downtown area as a destination. It’s a place where people live, work and entertain themselves, and with developments that bring in more housing, entertainment and specialty retail, he sees healthy growth downtown.
“Downtown is relatively healthy right now,” he said. “The farmers market probably has more of an impact on the downtown than the county does.”
