Is that mall project happening after all? | The Weekly Wausonian

Wausau news for Feb. 8, 2024

Things looked grim for mall redevelopment last fall. T. Wall Enterprises was asking for a delay because they didn’t have the necessary capital to cover the project. Lending had dried up, and the company’s plans to bring in outside investors with favorable terms didn’t seem to be going well, as several investors who were approached by T. Wall told The Wausonian. And its owner had taken to fighting with city council members and making strange legal arguments.

But things look like they’re turning around for the project, which received an extension last fall. T. Wall Development Analyst Nick Patterson told a city committee this week that construction on the apartment project is slated to begin in May.

Patterson says the lending environment has improved this year, construction inflation is down and they’re rebidding the contracts.

The Wausonian will likely dive into this story further. Stay tuned.

This week, readers at all subscriber levels read our previews of both the mayoral primary and the city council District 4 race (which with one candidate dropping out, is mostly a primary in name only). The second is by Wausonian freelancer Devon Welsh, his first shot at political coverage.

What else in Wausau?

That’s a lot of dirty soil removed: City leaders got some specific numbers on the amount of contaminated soil removed from Riverside Park. Workers removed 1,829 tons of soil from the park in July after testing the park for dioxins and other forms of contamination. There are still a couple of spots of concern, and the Department of Natural Resources will be making a responsible party determination after reviewing the environmental consultant’s report.

We have a triceratops: The numbers of events held at the Marathon County Library - and attendees to those events — has surged last year compared to 2022, Library Director Leah Giordano says. Events grew from 434 in 2022 to 931 in 2023, and attendees to events grew from 8,400 to 18,925, according to Giordano. That news comes as the library gets a giant Triceratops fossil from former Colossal Fossils. “We have a new employee: it’s a triceratops,” Giordano says. “I think we’re going to light it from below so that when you drive down First Street you think there is a dinosaur in the library… because there is.” 

Around the metro

Bomb threat: Mosinee School District sent students home Thursday after receiving a bomb threat to its buildings. All three districts in the building were evacuated, and agencies as far away as Outagamie and Brown counties responded. No bombs were found, and students are now in class again.

Kids falsely imprisoned on a bus: A Tomahawk bus driver is likely to entered a plea deal to avoid prison after driving students back to the bus barn instead of to their homes in January 2023, according to a statement by the district and court records. Driver Debra Decker, 63, drove students to the bus barn after blasting loud music and driving erratically. Decker had a conflict with the students, who she said were being loud and misbehaving and wouldn’t listen to her. She faced 41 false imprisonment charges, one for each student she held at the bus barn. Decker had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor felony charges of obstruction and disorderly conduct after facing felony charges in 2021. Decker pleaded no contest Wednesday afternoon, according to court records. She was given a deferred judgement for 12 months, and if she completes the court’s terms, the charges will be dismissed.

This week in data

Here is some of the data The Wausonian dug up this week around snowmobile passes. It’s probably no surprise that by all metrics snowmobiling has suffered this warm winter. More coming on this later in the week:

Business

Former Daily Herald building becomes business suites: The former offices of the Wausau Daily Herald building has now become business suites. Called Fairway Business Suites, the owners moved in City Pages and the Wausau Buyers Guide/City Times in earlier this month. Others will are expected to follow. The owner bought the building in 2020 and has been renovating it.

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Entertainment

Thursday, Feb. 8: Bradley Sperger brings one impressive musical act. The multi-instrumentalist employs a technique called live-looping in order to build a song with all the instruments — bass, guitar, drums, and his vocals among others — all by himself. The results are pretty impressive and Sperger is also a good songwriter. Check him out at The Garage, which is becoming a real hotbed of music these days. 4 pm. See the event page for more.

Friday, Feb. 9: Feeling like a trip to Stevens Point? Sunset Point Winery is a pretty cool place to hang out without anything going on — they have those cool hammocks you can sit on, and plenty of wine to try by the glass. But this Friday they’re hosting a comedy night. Check out this group of traveling comedians and get ready to laugh your socks off. 7 pm. See the event page for more information and tickets.

Thursday, Feb. 8: Do you miss MoTown? This Harlem group brings all those 70s Motown/funk sounds back into a choreographed performance people of all ages can enjoy. Uptown is like if you took a boy band and had them solely focus on old 70s classics like The Temptations, Earth Wind and Fire, and so much more. This upbeat show has been called “the most electrifying show I’ve seen in a decade!” 7:30 pm. See the event page for more details.

Looking for kids/family events? Check out the family-oriented listing from The Wausonian’s partner Wausau Mama, who puts together a weekly listing of children/family activities.

Sports

Boys basketball: Wausau East beat Merrill on Monday 70-62 to remain the top Wausau area team in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. But the Lumberjacks, 6-3 in third place, have Wausau West nipping at their heels. The Warriors are 5-4 in fourth place.

Girls basketball: Wausau West defeated Wisconsin Rapids 58-48 Thursday to remain the top Wausau area team, 5-4 for third place in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. With only three games left in the season, it looks like they won’t finish any higher as SPASH and Marshfield have nine wins each.

Boys hockey: Wausau West looks poised to finish the season in second place behind rival SPASH, which the warriors lost to twice in the season. The Warriors are three games behind SPASH and have only one game, against D.C. Everest, remaining in the regular season.

Girls hockey: The Central Wisconsin Storm got its first tie of the year against Superior, 1-1 after overtime Saturday. That still leaves the Storm with a 15-3-1 record for the year, with three games remaining in the season. All of them are home games.

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