Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader File Photo by Scott Williams The two-story commercial and residential building at 101 E. Green Bay St. has housed many businesses and tenants, but it is empty and deteriorated.
Bonduel village leaders are taking the next step in their efforts to force repairs to a deteriorated building in the heart of the downtown.
Property owner Keith Block has been given a 60-day deadline to either complete a long list of repairs or demolish the empty commercial and residential property at 101 E. Green Bay St.
If Block fails to meet the deadline, the village says it will raze the building and try to recoup the cost by putting a lien on the property.
Village Board members say they have given the property owner adequate opportunities to address the building’s repair issues voluntarily on his own terms.
“Something needs to be done,” Trustee Robert Luepke said.
Block, who has previously voiced a willingness to make the repairs, declined to comment about the village’s new deadline.
Located at the northeast corner of Green Bay Street and Cecil Street, the vacant building stands in the center of Bonduel’s main downtown business district, surrounded by attractive storefronts, restaurants and taverns.
Over the years, the beleaguered property has housed an ice cream shop and other once-popular attractions, as well as apartments on the second floor.
Village officials in recent months have grown increasingly concerned about the building’s condition — and increasingly irritated by Block’s response.
“He had time to make repairs,” Trustee Robert Thayer said. “If he doesn’t care enough to take care of it, then the onus is on him.”
Block also owns the Wisconsin House Inn hotel in Shawano and has had similar battles with city leaders there about the hotel property’s condition.
According to Bonduel’s order, the vacant building on Green Bay Street needs repairs to a brick masonry wall, a leaky roof, a steel column, several windows, a staircase, the fire escape, a moldy basement and more. No estimate has been released for the cost of the repairs or the cost of demolishing the building.
County property records show that the building is valued at $68,000 and generates about $1,600 a year in property taxes.
Neighboring merchants said they agree with village officials about taking steps to get the building fixed up or removed.
Wayne Ort, owner of Wayne’s Place Bar & Grill, said that, although he is leery of the village paying the cost of demolition, Block’s property has become an eyesore.
“It’s no good sitting there like it is,” Ort said.
Local merchants and civic leaders have recently banded together to form a new Bonduel Area Chamber of Commerce, aiming to promote the village’s downtown shopping district as a destination.
Roxanne Tilleson, owner of The Rustic Shed gift store, said that if the Block building were razed, the corner would make a good location for a new parking lot or a park.
Tilleson said the building in its current condition is a blight on the area.
“Any time there’s an empty building,” she said, “it kind of brings the downtown down.”
The village’s order, directed to Block at his home in Wrightstown, gives the property owner until approximately late May to comply, either by completing the repairs or demolishing the building. The order does not indicate how soon the village would move forward with demolition otherwise.
Village trustee Shawn Thorne said although the property has been neglected and is a public safety hazard, he voiced mixed feelings about the village knocking it down.
“You always hate to have to take down a building,” Thorne said. “Sometimes you have to make those tough decisions.”