Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski This piece of land next to the Shell 22 convenience store, owned by the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe, will house a new 12,000 square-foot retail center. Exterior work is expected to be finished by year’s end, and the search for tenants has begun.
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal President Shannon Holsey, center, is flanked by tribal council members Scott Vele and Jo Ann Schedler as they shovel the first clumps of dirt Friday at the site of a future retail center. The tribe is pouring $1.3 million into the project and hopes to attract business to the busy junction of state Highways 22 and 29.
The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians broke ground Friday on a shopping center at the junction of state Highways 22 and 29 and hope to have it ready for tenants by the end of 2016.
Tribal council members joined with county and state officials in shoveling the first clumps of dirt on the $1.3 million project that has been years in the making. The tribe purchased the land next to the Shell 22 convenience store in 2004, but other priorities, such as work on the North Star Casino — the tribe’s primary revenue source — and a new health and wellness center, took priority.
“We had a plan, and this was the next step to our strategic plan,” Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal President Shannon Holsey said.
Holsey said Bayland Buildings, the Green Bay-based general contractor, plans to have the building’s shell completed in less than four months. The tribe plans to immediately market the property to prospective tenants and then make interior modifications based on the retailer’s needs.
“It’s going to be very impressive,” Holsey said. “We anticipate starting construction immediately.”
The project is not the first Stockbridge-Munsee foray into retail, according to Holsey. She noted that the tribe also operates Tractor Supply in Shawano.
“Economic diversification does not always necessitate being on the reservation,” Holsey said. “It’s also being good stewards to Shawano County because we are citizens of Shawano County, but we are also the largest employer in the county.”
County Supervisor Arlyn Tober praised the project after the groundbreaking, seeing it as a good project for the tribe and county, as well as the town of Belle Plaine and city of Shawano.
“It doesn’t look very good right now,” Tober said of the property, a sunken valley with few trees and an abundance of wild grass, “but it’s supposed to look really amazing once it’s developed. You can see the amount of traffic right now just with the gas station, and that can only improve.”
State Rep. Gary Tauchen, R-Bonduel, also attended the ceremony and was excited about the number of new jobs the retail center would bring to the area. The tribe estimates 15 to 20 jobs for the construction phase, but did not estimate how many jobs would come from new businesses.
“Hopefully it will stimulate the economy in this area and be the start of something that will expand in this area,” Tauchen said.
Holsey said it was important for the tribe to buy land in Shawano County and be economically diverse in tending to the needs of the tribal community. She noted that there is not a lot of retail business on Highway 29 between Wausau and Green Bay, and she hopes the new center will bring more businesses to the corridor.
“This retail center will bring new jobs and increased shopping activity to the Belle Plaine and Shawano areas,” Belle Plaine Town Chairman Alvin Bartz said in a press released provided by the tribe. “We expect this will spur other developments in the area and we applaud the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Tribe for their continued investment in the local communities surrounding their tribal lands.”