Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Wispark gets 50 acres on Oakwood Road, the school district gets land for a high school expansion and elementary school, and the city now owns part of the Delphi site.
The Oak Creek Common Council gave a final sign-off to a set of land swaps in which the Oak Creek-Franklin School District gets the Civic Center site, Wispark a 50-acre property near Oakwood and Howell and the city a seven-acre site at Delphi. The council previously signaled its support for the plan when it approved relocating the city hall and library, and aldermen unanimously passed the measure Tuesday night, just a few hours before election results came in. In addition to the Civic Center site, which Oak Creek-Franklin school officials plan to use for an expansion of Oak Creek High School, the district also got 16 acres off Drexel Avenue for a future elementary school. School officials have said neither project, which require a …
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Land at the lakefront, Delphi, Drexel Avenue all part of commission's recommendations.
The Oak Creek Plan Commission has recommended two sets of land exchanges and a purchase of lakefront property for Common Council approval. A rundown of the three measures: Drexel Avenue The city would exchange properties at 8245 S. 20th St., 2211 W. Drexel Ave. and part of 2301 W. Drexel Ave. with Milwaukee County for a 16-acre property at 2200 W. Drexel Ave. The county approached the city about the swap so it could expand Falk Park and preserve those properties as park land and open space. As reported Friday, Northwestern Mutual recently got about 50 acres of land from the county near the planned Drexel Interchange. What will happen with those 16 acres the city gets? It would be transferred to the Oak Creek-Franklin School District, …
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
One possibility is a ninth-grade center attached to the school.
Now that the decision has been made to (someday) expand Oak Creek High School onto the Civic Center site -- across Knights Way at the corner of Puetz Road and Howell Avenue -- it seems only natural to ask the question, "How might they go about that?" To be clear, school officials say it's still a ways off in the distance, as it would require a referendum and the district isn't close to beginning a pursuit of that. Plans are in the works to relocate the city hall and the library to the Delphi site, and Fire Station 1 to Centennial Drive, but that's not happening tomorrow, either. However, one possibility district administrators have floated is constructing a freshman-only building, something I mentioned briefly in the story Monday night and…
Monday, March 12, 2012
Civic Center site would be used for high school expansion.
The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board approved a land-swap agreement with the city of Oak Creek Monday in which the current Civic Center site would be used for a future expansion of Oak Creek High School. The board will exchange 50 acres of undeveloped property at Oakwood and Howell avenues for the Civic Center site at the corner of Puetz and Howell. The city will then exchange the Oakwood land with Wispark, the development arm of We Energies, for seven acres at the former Delphi site on which to build a library and city hall. Wispark plans to develop the Oakwood land into a business park. The agreement passed the board 4-1, with board member Mark Verhalen casting the lone opposing vote. The district's idea is to build a ninth-grade center …
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Council could put end to location discussion Feb. 7.
Top Oak Creek officials tried once again Monday night to convince Oak Creek aldermen, school board members and an audience of about 70 community members that the city should move the library and city hall to the former Delphi site, 7929 S. Howell Ave. The comments came at a public forum Monday night to discuss the options and implications of the decision on where the two facilities should be located. The issue could finally come to a head Feb. 7, when the Common Council is scheduled to take up the matter during its regularly-scheduled meeting. Officials say a public hearing will be held before a vote is taken. Not so simple A move to the Delphi site is complicated, and involves two land swaps that would go like this: City officials …
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Civic Center and Delphi sites are focus of Jan. 30 meeting.
The Oak Creek Common Council and School Board will hold a joint meeting Monday to discuss redevelopment options at the former Delphi site, 7929 S. Howell Ave., and the Civic Center site at the corner of Howell and Puetz. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria of Oak Creek High School, 340 E. Puetz Road. It will be televised on the city's public access channels (channel 25 on Time Warner Cable and channel 99 on AT&T Uverse). Though no expansion of the high school is imminent, one scenario city officials want to discuss is whether the district would, at some point, be interested in expanding the school onto the Civic Center site. (School officials say OCHS is near capacity now and project enrollment will continue to increase.) The…
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Many anxiously awaiting verdict on the location of two civic buildings.
A decision on the location of a new city hall and library could come in early February, and once it does, expect a lot of movement on a lot of Oak Creek issues. Oak Creek aldermen agreed on the timeline for the decision at a Common Council meeting Tuesday. Aldermen will choose between keeping the library and city offices where they are — at the Civic Center site on the corner of Puetz Road and Howell Avenue — or moving them to the former Delphi property, at the corner of Drexel and Howell Avenues. This new timeline comes after much public discussion at three public meetings last year regarding the future of the Civic Center and Delphi properties. A new mixed-use development is planned for the site, but it is not yet known whether the …
Friday, June 24, 2011
Options laid out at public meeting Thursday.
Multiple scenarios for the future of the former Delphi site and current Civic Center (City Hall/library) site were presented at a public-input meeting Thursday night. That included two options for Delphi, 7929 S. Howell Ave., that addressed the much-debated question about where to put a new City Hall and library: one option had those buildings there, and one option didn't. The centerpiece of the first option, in addition to the two municipal buildings, is a "walkable main street," lined with shops and restaurants. It also has new housing and a greenspace that could include any number of features, such as a farmer’s market or amphitheater. The second option, with no Civic Center, includes a recreational complex, no housing and more retail …
Thursday, June 16, 2011
New conceptual plans will be presented at June 23 meeting.
Oak Creek leaders will present new conceptual plans for the former Delphi site, 7929 S. Howell Ave., and existing Civic Center property at a public meeting later this month. The meeting will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. June 23 at the Oak Creek Community Center, 8580 S. Howell Ave., the city announced today. Oak Creek officials and their consultant, Graef, will explain the planning process and then lead an in-depth discussion about each site alternative. Attendees can then share their thoughts on how Delphi and the Civic Center site (the City Hall and library buildings on the corner of Puetz and Howell) might be redeveloped, according to a news release. The conceptual plans were drafted based on input from a similar public meeting held in…
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Residents want anything from waterparks to a Bayshore-like shopping destination.
Whenever some 60 people representing numerous facets of a community come together, it’s almost impossible for everyone to agree on anything. That's the scenario that played out Wednesday over the course of two meetings totaling nearly four hours at Oak Creek City Hall. Residents and community leaders gave their input on the future of the former Delphi site and current Civic Center, and opinions were mixed on what that should look like. Despite the varying range of interests, Carolyn Esswein, an associate with Graef who led a large portion of both meetings, said some patterns emerged, particularly regarding the 85-acre Delphi property at 7929 S. Howell Ave. “The consensus is ‘something unique,’” she said of Delphi. “They want something that…
vocal local 1
2:40 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
I estimate the council passed 150 million of debt financing Tuesday night. Delphi Clean up 20 million. City hall Library demolition and clean up X million. Hwy 100 expansion 4 million. New City Hall and Library 35 million. Carrollville/lakefront 50 million. Wis Park PTF 20 million. Wis Park Partnerships X Million. 2 fire stations 7 million at 3.5 each. Current streets and police building debt 12 … more ›