Vendor woes continue for Riverlife Park | Weekly Wausonian
Wausau news for the week of June 5, 2025
City leaders found themselves in a bit of a pickle last month after a vendor that had been chosen to operate out of the Wausau Riverlife concession stand backed out. Now the city parks department is going to try to figure out something on its own.
The committee generally came to the consensus that they would like Parks Director Jamie Polley to seek out short-term vendors to offer something simple out of the booth along the River’s Edge Trail in Riverlife.
Briq’s had operated an ice cream shop out of the concession stand for a number of years but announced last year it wouldn’t be continuing. City leaders approved a proposal from the owners of Sawmill Trampoline Park but they later had to pull out of the deal. The vendor they competed with also had withdrawn, leaving little time to get a replacement.
The committee also expressed support for occasional pop-up food truck events at the site. An idea for the city to buy an ice cream vending machine was shot down over concern about vandalism.
Polley said they had several vendors reach out with potential interest and she told the committee she would follow up with them to see if any of them wanted to run a simple concession stand with packaged snacks and drinks.
This week we got the inside scoop on Mumble Wrap, the restaurant in the old Townies space and run by the same person as now runs Malarkey’s - and they have some interesting plans!
Mumble Wrap is trying a new concept in the Malarkey's Pub/Townies space
The news likely took a number of people by surprise: Tyler Vogt, long-time owner of Malarkey’s Pub, would be selling the pub to new owners, instead focusing on Westsider Diner and Cafe.
Subscribers also read the latest edition of our Getting Real with Real Estate feature:
Are Marathon County and Wausau diverging on real estate? | Getting Real with Real Estate
Welcome to The Wausonian’s quarterly feature for paid subscribers called “Getting Real with Real Estate,” where we break down the latest trends and statistics in local real estate. (Technically, three quarters and then for the fourth quarter we also discuss the entire year.)
What else in Wausau news?
West side of Washington Street opens: Just in time for Concerts on the Square, the west side of Washington Street opened up downtown, which opens up Third Street in front of the where the mall was as well. The street closures were a concern for businesses, some who told The Wausonian it impacted their sales pretty significantly. We looked at all the Wausau construction projects in our new feature Trying to Reason with Construction Season.
Cellcom offers credit for outage: Following a long outage of service last month, Cellcom says they’re offering automatic credit for the lost service, plus the opportunity for eligible customers to get “double” the downtime in credit. Customers were skeptical though, with many saying they still couldn’t use the service.
City looking at RiverLife safety after drowning: The city is looking at additional safety measures at RiverLife Park after a 16-year-old boy drowned in the Wisconsin River last month. Jamie Polley told the Parks and Recreation Committee recently that the city is considering signs and buoys in the water to prevent further accidents. The city attorney is currently reviewing the situation, Polley says.
City hit 75% of its 2025 housing units goal: A regional planning expert says Wausau has hit 75% of its goal of new units by 2025; or at least it will when all the current projects are completed. North Central Regional Planning Senior Planner Sam Wessel said there are still few vacancies in the area, which are leading to higher prices. A report The Wausonian wrote recently looked at the unaffordability of Marathon County real estate as housing prices outpace wage inflation.
Around the metro
One dead, one injured in Hatley house fire: The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the cause of a fire that killed a woman in the 200 block of Kirkwood Street in the village of Hatley Tuesday. Firefighters rescued a 57-year-old woman from the burning structure after a 67-year-old woman who was injured in the fire alerted firefighters that she was still inside. The sheriff’s office on Wednesday afternoon announced that the 57-year-old woman, identified as Susan L. Parisi of Hatley, died of her injuries from the fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Rib Mountain approves letter regarding TIF districts: Rib Mountain leaders approved sending a letter to state representatives calling for assistance in housing - and that includes changing Tax Increment Financing legislation to include a special housing district. Talk of a new district last year angered residents who were concerned about the long-term impact of TIF on their taxes.
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Entertainment
The Seth Brown Duo returns to town, a quick look at some of the new shows at the Grand Theater this next season, free yoga events, Pride Fest and more this weekend in our Wausome Weekend Guide:
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
Softball: Sometimes regular season dominance doesn’t lead to much in the post-season. But that definitely wasn’t the case for D.C. Everest softball which is set to take on Menomonie in the Section Final today (Thursday) in Stevens Point. The Evergreens enjoyed a first-round bye before defeating Hudson 6-0 and Chippewa Falls 2-1 in extra innings (8). They’ll take on underdog Menomonie, seeded No. 7 (Everest was the top seed).
Baseball: D.C. Everest had already clinched the Wisconsin Valley Conference title heading into the last game of the season, but the Evergreens made it official after shutting out SPASH 4-0 on Thursday. That helped them wrap up the season with an 11-1 record heading into the post-season. D.C. Everest enjoyed a bye on Tuesday as a No. 2 seed and will take on New Richmond in its first game of the playoffs today (Thursday). Wausau West was eliminated from the tournament by Menomonie Tuesday, 3-2 in ten innings.
Girls soccer: Wausau West finally missed a beat, losing 1-0 to SPASH and D.C. Everest pounced by defeating Marshfield 2-0 as the two teams finish tied for first in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. Both teams won their first playoff matches Tuesday — the Evergreens defeated SPASH 4-1 and the Warriors defeated Wisconsin Rapids 1-0. If both teams win their matches today (Thursday) against higher-seeded opponents they could take each other on Saturday to determine who heads to the sectional championship.
Boys tennis: D.C. Everest’s Ted Kitchell will take on David Porut of Kenosha Indian Trail today (Thursday) in the opening rounds of boys tennis singles.
Lacrosse: The Wausau area boys coop team won its opening playoff match but fell Friday to Edgewood Coop 20-3. The Wausau area girls coop team lost its first match Thursday to Mount Horeb 11-10.
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