Scott Williams swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Scott Williams The proposed Prevea Health clinic site includes the former Anello’s Torch Lite location, foreground, plus a private residence, shown, and facilities for exotic animals.
Prevea Health has cleared environmental hurdles and is moving forward with plans to enter the Shawano health care market with a new clinic to be constructed on the city’s east side.
The Green Bay-based company wants to redevelop the former site of Anello’s Torch Lite restaurant, 1276 E. Green Bay St., which is located near an existing facility for competitor Aurora Health Care.
After building a new restaurant on an adjacent site, Anello’s owner Rita Mondus said she has agreed to a deal with Prevea and expects to see the new clinic under construction soon.
“It just kind of fell into place,” Mondus said. “They are putting a lot of time and energy into that property.”
Because of wetlands uncovered at the site, Prevea approached state and federal regulators earlier this year for approval to build the new clinic. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources both have since given the project a green light.
In a decision dated Oct. 12, the state DNR wrote that wetlands cover a small portion of the estimated 5-acre site and that the development would not cause the environment any meaningful damage.
“The proposed project will not result in significant adverse impacts to wetland functional values, significant impacts to water quality, or other significant adverse environmental consequences,” state water management specialist Scott Koehnke wrote in his decision.
Prevea’s plans have described a two-story clinic that is 18,000 square feet in size — comparable to the nearby Aurora clinic — with parking for about 80 vehicles.
Prevea spokeswoman Angela Deja said the company was still interested in the Anello’s Torch Lite site, but that officials were not ready to discuss the status of the project.
“We are still in the planning stages,” Deja said.
The company has not divulged what sort of clinic would be built in Shawano or what sort of services would be provided.
Prevea, which operates more than 40 facilities throughout Wisconsin, would join Aurora and ThedaCare among major players in the health care market to establish footholds in the Shawano area. Prevea has sought a location offering high visibility and easy customer access.
Anello’s Torch Lite, a landmark Shawano eatery that operates for decades, was destroyed by fire in December 2014. After months of consideration, Mondus and her husband, John, decided to rebuild on a site directly to the west.
The new restaurant, open since May, was built by Rodac Development & Construction, a Green Bay firm that also is working with Prevea Health.
The health care clinic project would involve demolishing a home where the Monduses lived and clearing an area where they maintained a private collection of exotic animals.
Rita Mondus said she and her husband have found a new home for themselves and that Prevea has asked them to be out of their old residence by Dec. 1 so that construction crews can get started before the end of the year. Mondus said the real estate sale has been completed, adding that she feels like Prevea made her a fair deal.
Mondus said she has seen plans for the proposed new clinic, and she is confident it would fit well with her new restaurant and other businesses in the area.
“It’s beautiful,” she said of the clinic. “It’ll be wonderful.”