Richland County board’s campus reconfiguration committee met Wednesday

In Richland County – the county board’s campus reconfiguration committee met Wednesday, to discuss next steps in the redevelopment of the former UW-Platteville Richland property.

Randy Schoonover was elected Chair of the committee; Dave Turk was elected vice-chair.

County Administrator Trish Clements reported, the Ithaca and Kickapoo school districts recently took some items they can use in their classrooms, and that representatives from the Weston school district would do so as well.  Clements also reported, the Friends of the Library took some books they are happy to use.

Josh Elder, who has been working on a plan for demolition of some of the buildings, gave an extensive update.  Elder stated there will be a pre-bid meeting at Melville Hall on the 12th of May, for companies interested in the bid process to perform the demolition.  Bids will then be due by the 29th of May, and bids will then be presented to the County Board for approval, June 16th.

Elder said there will need to be some asbestos abatement as part of the demolition, and said the Board will have the ability to pick and choose what they want to do once they have the bids, for example, the Board could choose to have the Coppertop building demolished, or leave it out of the demolition, if an interested party wanted to rehabilitate and preserve that building.

Elder told the committee there have been three requests for interest received regarding portions of the campus property.  Spies Construction has expressed preliminary interest in six acres, on which they would build a “pocket neighborhood”, containing homes with a target sale price of $400,000.  Spies would require infrastructure improvements, if they were to proceed with the project.  The city of Richland Center has expressed interest in 10 to 12 acres, on which 17-24 single family homes would be built.  The City would extend the necessary infrastructure, these homes would be targeted to the $300,000 – $475,000 price range.

There has been recent interest in the Coppertop building – this interest is highly preliminary, as the building would need a considerable amount of work.  If the Coppertop were to be preserved, the intent would be to create a venue that could house such things as weddings, business meetings, art shows, music, or potentially a restaurant.  

In each case, this is simply an expression of interest at this point.  The Committee voted to proceed with discussions with the City at this point, and expressed their excitement at the possibilities that are now before them.

A target date of November first has been established for completion of demolition.

Clements also reported, a signed contract has been received, approving the UW Redevelopment Grant, and that the first payment will, “hopefully be received by the end of the month.”