Planners envision
bluffside community center

By Trudy Balcom

It’s been about a year since Marquette and McGregor signed a memorandum of understanding
with the State of Iowa and officially became an Iowa Great Place.

Since then, local Great Places organizers have been busy putting an organization and a
structure together to facilitate the community projects planned as part of the Great Places initiative.

The community projects include a Wetlands Centre, trails and an overlook tower in Marquette and
the Arts Center in McGregor.

This preliminary drawing for a community and events center at the former bridge approach site in Marquette was done by architects from Shive-Hattery, the design firm selected for the local Great Places projects. The glass-fronted design would overlook the river and is intended to echo the former bridge structure and tie into the downtown. The new building would be accessed from a new addition on the east side of City Hall.

Last year organizers completed an agreement for the Wetlands Centre in Marquette and installed
a board to help oversee its design and construction. They also hired a design firm, Shive -Hattery,
of Des Moines to assist with the design and construction of the Wetlands Centre.

Last week the Wetlands Centre project and a new, accompanying project, took a leap
forward. Local Great Places organizers met with architects from Shive-Hattery to review
and comment on preliminary designs for the project on Tuesday, January 12 at the Chamber of
Commerce office in McGregor.

It was the third formal meeting with the designers. In attendance were Marquette city government
officials, citizen representatives from McGregor and the Chamber of Commerce.

“Today is really about saying: Yes, we agree about this direction,” head planner Craig
Erickson told those in attendance.

Erickson reminded local organizers that the architectural plans and sketches they had prepared
were not final in any way, since there were many details and problems to be solved, not the least of
which is funding and the removal of an existing rail siding.

“Today we are talking in terms of intent,” he said.

From the drawings, the firm can move forward with planning and funding models and a
master plan which will support the construction process.

New Community Center Idea

The plan which generated the most excitement at the meeting was for the bluffside above
Marquette’s City Hall.

Shive-Hattery designers had suggested at the last meeting that the plan to use the Wetland
Centre pavilion as a community center as well as an educational space be modified to include a
more dramatic, visible location instead.

“Our role is to continue to challenge you guys,” Erickson told the group. He explained that he
was seeking to create a project that would include a “wow factor” that would draw excitement
from the state Great Places program and other potential funders.

The result was a sketch of a glass-front building overlooking the river at the site of the former
bridge approach overlook. According to the sketch, the building would be accessed from the
street from a new structure adjoining City Hall on the east side, where a small parking lot is
currently located. The new structure would require the demolition of the home-garage complex
located below the bluff where Hwy. 76 curves west to enter Marquette. The city also owns that
property.

Responses to the idea were generally positive from those attending the meeting. People liked
how the design integrated the new building into the downtown, and presented a striking visual
when crossing the bridge into Marquette from Prairie du Chien. Those in attendance felt that the
design and visibility of the structure would help drive business for events, banquets and meetings
at the community center facility. The final size of the structure is not yet clear, but it is projected to
be 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. In addition, the facility would include kiosks or displays to interpre
the geology of the Driftless region.

Wetlands Centre Pavilion

Erickson presented a slightly modified version of a sketch presented at the last meeting for the
Roundhouse site. The designers re-worked the plan somewhat to respond to concerns and ideas
expressed by the Marquette City Council in a special meeting in December.

The sketch depicts a Wetlands Centre pavilion, an event lawn, a playground and an expansion of
the wetlands at the Roundhouse site just south of Hwy. 18 near the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

This plan for a new park and Wetland Centre pavilion at the Roundhouse site shows Hwy. 18
at the top of the image, and the Marquette wastewater treatment plant at the far left. The Wetland
Centre pavilion is shown adjacent to the wetland marsh at the top and center of the photo. The
pavilion is planned as a three-season structure. To the left of the pavilion is a paved parking
lot and a round playground area; a paved trails connect trail connects the park to downtown.
The dark line on the south side of the wetland marsh indicates the current location of a rail siding
that will have to be removed for the park to be constructed.

The pavilion will be a multi-purpose three-season structure. It will be round to mimic the old roundhouse, and provide boardwalk access to the adjoining wetland to the north. The structure could be 120 feet in diameter, and about 7,000 square feet.

The pavilion will include an informal classroom space were students studying the wetland environment can meet, a picnic shelter and rest rooms.

Also included in the design for the pavilion is an outdoor stage on the south side facing an “event lawn,” for performances. The “event lawn” responds to council requests for an area for outdoor events such as the farmers market or tractor pulls. The design also includes parking, a playground, and paved trails connecting the new park to downtown.

The city council   requested that the pavilion be moved closer to the treatment plant because the ground is higher to prevent flood damage. Erickson said that this was not necessary since the pavilion will be built on a site elevated with fill, and can be designed to minimize flood damage.

The site cannot be developed as sketched in this plan unless the most northerly siding of the Canadian Pacific’s rail yard there is removed. Negotiations with the railroad over this issue have not yet begun.

Erickson said that Shive-Hattery will make site visits to measure the locations and to gather vital information from City Hall in Marquette, then refine the concepts by early February. The master plans for the two projects will be presented to the councils of both Marquette and McGregor some time in March. Other next steps will explore potential funding sources and begin negotiations with the railroad.

Shive-Hattery will meet again with local organizers sometime next month.

Bituma calls back some employees

By Trudy Balcom

Just as unemployment benefits are running out, some laid-off workers at Bituma-Gencor in Marquette are going back
to work.

According to plant supervisor Kevin Kinley, the plant is up to about 60 percent of its former staffing levels, with 73
employees back on the job as of about Jan. 10. Kinley offered no specific information about current orders for the
asphalt plants the company builds, but he said he did not anticipate bringing many more workers back just yet.

He cited the soft economy and the fact that Congress has not passed a new federal highway bill.

According to an informational memo published by National Asphalt Paving Association in late December
characterized the federal highway funding for the 2010 construction season as unclear.

“The bottom-line is that there is more work to do by Congress before we really know what the 2010 construction
market will look like,” the memo stated.

Those who have returned to work at Bituma are grateful, and so is the management.

“We’re really thankful to have these guys back,” Kinley said.

Chicago man buys
winning lottery ticket in McGregor

By Jen Schultz 

For one local family, putting off a Christmas get-together until last weekend was a great idea.
    David and Kerry Tantillo were visiting Kerry’s mother, Arletta Fischer and family, in McGregor Jan. 16 and 17.
    David received some scratch-off lottery tickets from Randy Fischer, Kerry’s, step-brother, as a gift.

After scratching off the crossword puzzle ticket, David said “I think I won $30,000!”

Randy had purchased the lottery tickets from the McGregor Kwik Star just a few days before.
David plans to donate some of his winnings to a charity for Haiti and use the rest as a down payment on a
new home for his family.

David and Kerry live in Chicago, Ill., with their one year-old son, Roman.
Kerry graduated from Prairie du Chien High School and is employed as
an account manager at a law firm in Chicago. David is the restaurant
manager at Ben Pao in Chicago.