2005 news articles
Commercial development could boost Fox River traffic
By Maureen Wallenfang
Post-Crescent staff writer
San Antonio's Rivercenter Mall is the most visited spot in Texas.
It provides a lesson in economics for the Fox River Valley in faraway Wisconsin: The creative use of a river plus commercial development can produce an enormous draw.
Rivercenter is located on San Antonio's pride and joy — the River Walk, a stretch of shops, restaurants and hotels along the banks of the San Antonio River. The potent combination of shopping and dining with a Venice-style use of boats and water draws 19 million visitors to the mall each year. That's even more than the Alamo.
Back in Wisconsin, officials envision an economic benefit from using the Fox River more commercially. Reopening the river's locks system could be a further catalyst for riverfront development already beginning.
"It's going to bring people from all around the country because the lock system is unique," said John Supple, president of the Supple Restaurant Group, a company that owns two waterfront Fratellos, has restaurants in Oshkosh and Appleton and another on the way shortly on the banks of the Fox in Ashwaubenon.
A study done 10 years ago said reopening the locks could bring an estimated $74 million in economic development along the Fox River. Today, local business owners and municipal officials don't put a specific dollar value on it, but they see potential.
"This whole evolution or conversion of our riverfront from its industrial base to commercial and resident use will occur regardless of whether the locks are open or not," said Pete Hensler, Appleton's economic development director. "But the locks will enhance that and add more value to the projects. It will have a significant impact on economic development."
Access to boats on the river will become an integral part of housing and other developments, Hensler said.
"There'll be a higher level of interest in those (projects) as the locks open," he said. Residents and consumers "won't just be able to go from point A to point B. They'll be able to go from point A to point F."
Anything that opens access to downtown Green Bay is a plus, said Rob Strong, city planning director.
"I'd like to think we're an anchor location for boaters who want to take that daylong trip through the lock system," Strong said. "It's a little more enjoyable than driving up the highway. We're looking to attract boaters to spend their time and money in the community."
Tapping potential
While reopening the locks may be years away, developers and officials already know that the riverfront is a largely untapped opportunity.
A few already have discovered the appeal.
"Fratellos has to be on the water, or we're not building it," Supple said. Of his family's nine-restaurant portfolio, three are on bodies of water, including two Fratellos. His waterfront restaurants "are the biggest and the busiest," he said.
The appeal, Supple said, is the ever-changing view of water and wildlife.
"We saw four eagles here this morning at the Appleton Fratellos. Where else do you see that?"
However, not everyone views commercial applications as ideal in all situations.
"Where on the river?" said Linda Muldoon, a resident on Appleton's river bluff as well as a preservation advocate and downtown business owner. "Each part of the river demands something different. We don't need to follow other cities' examples. We need to have our own vision of it."
Development plans
Recent Appleton riverfront development has been centered in reclaimed buildings.
Fratellos, the former J restaurant, is housed in the redeveloped Vulcan hydroelectric power plant, and its neighbor, the former Atlas Mill, is home to the new Paper Discovery Center, a coffeehouse and a scrapbooking store.
Future developments, however, could be either housed in restored or brand new buildings.
The Appleton Plan Commission recently approved a permit for a restaurant as part of a new $2.5 million development called Trolley Square that would bring eateries and retail stores to a former industrial site in the river's flats off Olde Oneida Street near downtown.
Green Bay, meanwhile, also is considering a number of waterfront projects. The Astor Place Condominiums, for example, is planned at the site of Admiral Flatley Park.
"We will have a festival grounds on the waterfront that will open next spring," Strong said. "We have a significant boardwalk system we're proposing between our bridges downtown."
The Green Bay City Council has approved the concept of a $12 million redevelopment, which would be paid for with state and federal grants along with a tax-increment finance district.
Ashwaubenon also has a waterfront development under way — the Ashwaubenon Boardwalk — including a marina as well as office/condo/restaurant space. It's in the midst of a first phase. "Hopefully it will be completed by next summer," said Norbert DeCleene, village president.
Amid all the development talk, Muldoon worries about planners becoming shortsighted.
"The river belongs to all of us, and I feel it's being squeezed into which developer is coming forward with enough money," she said. "That's not a broad enough criteria to focus our river plan on."
Lost in the conversation of potential economic impact is the locks project itself, a multi-million-dollar reconstruction job, Hensler said.
"If we were building a multi-million dollar building, we'd be proud of that," he said. "This is a construction project that provides jobs for folks. The impact of that is significant."
Backers bring Fox River locks back to life
By Paul Srubas
Post-Crescent staff writer
A stalwart band of boaters and boosters is hoping that "want" can resurrect in the next three years what "need" has allowed to expire over the last 150 years — the Fox River locks system.
"It's a dirty shame they ever closed them," said Hap Mignon, 77, of Little Chute. "Oh, God, I'd love to see them open."
It may happen in his lifetime. The Friends of the Fox has already raised enough cash to restore the locks within eight years and is well on its way to raising enough to move the restoration schedule up to within three years.
"It's going to happen," said Bob Stark, president of the Friends of the Fox, whose group has taken upon itself to resurrect the locks along the 39-mile stretch of the Fox between the bay of Green Bay and Lake Winnebago.
The project will require about $28.8 million — about $23 million for the restoration work and the rest to keep the locks staffed and running for the next 30 years, according to Stark. But he and other proponents say the economic benefit could approach $100 million annually through tourism and development along the lower Fox River Valley. And, they say, it will give residents of that valley a link to their local history while providing river access to more people.The 17-lock system, built at the site of each of the dams on the river, consists of a series of gated chambers that fill or empty with water to lift or lower boats, thereby allowing them to pass the dams. The Fox locks were all hand-operated — powered entirely by water pressure and human muscle — one of the last such systems in the country.
The Fox locks are big enough for barges and other commercial vessels, but no one really needs them for commercial transit anymore.
The paint was barely dry on the brand new locks in the mid-19th century when the river system was supplanted by railroad transit as a cheaper, more versatile way of shipping bulk goods around Northeastern Wisconsin. And after World War II, the trucking industry finished the job of making the locks system obsolete.
By the 1980s, the federal government, which had been responsible for their operation since 1870, could no longer justify keeping the locks open for just the pleasure boaters. On top of that, a fear was developing that sea lampreys and other species that had invaded the Great Lakes would make their way up the Fox and decimate game fish populations in Lake Winnebago and elsewhere.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed 14 of the locks in 1986-87, allowing ones at De Pere, Lawrence and Menasha to remain open. The Corps then turned over the keys for the whole system to the Fox River Navigational System Authority, a state-appointed group of citizens charged with the mission of restoring and operating the locks or closing them as they see fit.
The authority and the Friends of the Fox organization see three reasons for resurrecting the locks system: recreation, tourism and history.
"This is all about tourism and the environment," said Ron Van De Hey, chairman of the authority. "It's going to allow people access to the river."
Fisherman are concerned
Not everyone embraces that idea.
A number of fishing clubs, including Walleyes for Tomorrow and Oshkosh's Otter Street Fishing Club, have opposed reopening the system out of fear of the sea lampreys and other invasive species.
The plan is to keep one lock — the one known as Rapide Croche, just south of Wrightstown — closed and sealed as a barrier to those unwanted pests.
Instead of a restored lock there, the site will be equipped with a boat lift. Boats needing to get from one side of the dam to the other will be lifted over, and those heading upstream will be cleaned each time.
Although lock proponents are touting that as a safeguard against invaders, fishermen are unconvinced that it's enough.
"The fishery and natural resources on the Winnebago system have incalculable value," said Mike Arrowood, chairman of the Fond du Lac-based Walleyes for Tomorrow. "To jeopardize that in any way, shape or form for the convenience of a few people to run pleasure boats from here to there doesn't seem to make much sense to us."
More than 200 non-native species have been found in the Great Lakes, Arrowood said.
"Is this sanitization system a for-sure thing that'll cover 200 species?" he said.
But many of those species have already made their way into the Winnebago watershed, Stark said. Fishermen and other boaters currently must trailer their boats from one side to the other, and that provides even less of a safeguard than the Rapide Croche boatlift will provide, he said.
The lift is intended specifically to prevent sea lampreys from getting through, and it'll do that, he said.
Happy memories
An open locks system will preserve what the river has and restore what it used to have as a viable transportation and recreation resource, Stark said.
The river provided many pleasant experiences in the past and can again, he said.
He remembers boating the whole length from Winnebago to the bay and would like others to experience the trip.
Van De Hey remembers diving off the locks when he was a boy.
For Mignon, the most vivid memory is the sound of the tug boats tooting their horns as they passed through. He recalled a little rhyme designed for remembering the horn signals: "One means danger, two means dock, three means bridge and four means lock."
The locks' potential as one of the few remaining hand-operated systems in the country have landed them on the National Register of Historic Places. But it's their future and the opportunities that an open locks system offers that most people are looking to.
Dave Jansen, who lives on the edge of one of the Kaukauna locks, looks forward to boating the distance — to use either the bay of Green Bay or Lake Winnebago for a playground.
"I'd love to have them operational," he said of the locks. "My boat is down there waiting," he added, pointing to a small craft tied off in the lock canal.
The Tiger's Den Pub & Grill in Wrightstown already is a destination point for recreational boaters, but owner Adam Ward eagerly awaits an open lock system.
"I'd love to see those locks open," he said. "It'll draw more traffic, and I'm all for anything that'll increase traffic on the river."
Not just businesses and boaters but entire communities along the river stand to gain, proponents of the locks system say.
"Anyone that can really appreciate the river and the use of that natural resource can't help but feel good that increased usage may be just around the corner with this happening," said Stephen Johnson, president of the village of Wrightstown.
"We have, for some time, always pointed to the Fox River as being a tremendous asset for the village if for no more reason than just the natural resource, the beautification that it does afford us. But now, maybe, commercially there'll be some economic impact."
Just how much economic impact remains an open question. Doug Dobbe, chairman of the Unlock the Fox Capital Campaign Committee, is claiming at minimum a $74 million annual shot in the arm for the entire Fox River Valley. And that's based on a 10-year-old study, which means the impact could be closer to $100 million annually, he said.
"The opening of those locks creates new opportunities," said Chuck Lamine, Brown County planning director.
"On weekends, when I go over (the Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge), I look down and see all those boats heading out to Door County or Marinette. I'd like to see some of them come back down this direction. From the economic development and tourism perspective, we're looking for an opportunity to attract people to this area, and opening the locks provides for some of that."
Financing is complex
But before the planners, developers and merchants start counting their money, there's a lot of work that needs to be done.
First, there's the fund-raising effort. The Friends of the Fox has raised just about $3 million — a bit more than its original goal of $2.8 million — which qualified the project for a $2.8 million match from the state. And the federal government has promised $5.6 million to match that total.
In addition, when the Corps turned over the locks to the authority, it also turned over $11.8 million. That's the amount of money the Corps calculated was needed for closing the locks permanently and filling in the channels. The authority must save most of that money as a just-in-case so it can close the locks properly if need be. But it can use some of the money and the interest it generates for restoration and operation.
Those sums put the authority on a restoration plan that would've taken between seven and 12 years to execute, Dobbe said.
"So we went back to the authority and asked, 'How much would we need to open in two to three years?'" he said. "It would take another $5,250,000, we were told."
So the fund-raising campaign added that amount to its goal and entertains the notion that it could make that by the end of September.
"It's certainly possible," Dobbe said. "It's a tricky thing. Work expands to the time allotted, so it's good to have a deadline."
Fund-raising, though successful, has been stymied.
Government leadership, federally as well as at the state level, has changed multiple times since the late 1980s, requiring locks proponents to have to re-educate and re-persuade new leaders.
Stumping for money this summer has been slowed by such mundane things as vacation schedules of representatives of the corporate and private foundations with deep pockets, Dobbe said. Efforts should pick up speed this September, he said.
Lack of publicity about the project also has complicated fund-raising efforts.
Noel Florek has lived for the last nine years in Little Chute — a village whose very name evokes the river, the falls and the dam and lock around which the community developed — but Florek had no idea about plans to reopen the locks or even what the locks were.
Pedaling his bicycle on the trail in Little Chute's Island Park, Florek stopped to look over the Little Chute lock, which has been closed since the mid-1980s.
"I never knew what that was for," he said. "I knew by the building and sign that it was some sort of government facility, but I didn't know what it even was for. Now that I know, it's pretty cool.
"I'd be in favor of them reopening it. I think it'd be an asset."
The more people who learn about the locks, the more they become interested, and that will only help raise funds to make the re-opening a reality, Dobbe said.
Concerns remain
But when all $28.8 million is in hand, the question remains in the minds of some people whether that'll truly be enough money to get and keep all 17 locks up and running. The plan as it stands now is to start with the four locks in Appleton and progress from there.
"We're just concerned that they'll run out of money before they get to Kaukauna," said Kaukauna Mayor John Lambie. "If something goes haywire, we want to be certain we're going to get ours opened or properly closed or whatever."
Even the best locks in the system need work, and for the worst ones, it's a trick just determining how much work they need.
Earlier this summer, the canal for Kaukauna's five locks was drained for inspection. But the temporary dam of stop-logs, imposed upriver to keep water out of the canal, sprung a major leak a few weeks ago, and the valves to empty the canal had frozen closed. Water gushed below and through the dam at a violent rate, filling the canal. The authority's operational manager, Dennis Arnoldussen, had the task of trying to figure out what to do about it.
On a recent Wednesday afternoon, he considered some solutions: laying sandbags at the base of the stop-log dam, driving the bottom gasket back into place by pounding wedges in, and dumping cinders into the upstream side of the dam to clot the gaps.
The temporary repairs likely wouldn't be as complicated as the permanent ones, Arnoldussen predicted.
"The problem is, nobody's ever really done this before," he said. "It's not like there are books out there telling you how to do it."
And repairing the locks is only part of the expense.
"With this, you can't just turn the key and open the gate and expect you've got something," Lambie said. "You've got to deal with liabilities, vandalism, and that requires policing.
"It's not a simple matter. It can be done, but it does require upkeep and maintenance. But when we get that far, we're prepared to do whatever we have to do."
Hurdles removed
Dobbe said the Friends and the authority have done their homework. Their cost estimates have been conservative, and the fund-raising goal, once achieved, will be sufficient to do the restoration and to maintain operation for 30 years, he said.
In addition, when the state acquired the locks system from the federal government, it also acquired 94 acres of land at the locks sites. Not all of that will be needed for lock operations and park sites, and some can be sold to raise additional money.
"People are skeptical, but it is going to happen," he said. "All of the hurdles have been removed."
Don't count Jansen as one of the skeptics. Although he already has a pair of boats at his home near one of the Kaukauna locks, he's planning to buy a pontoon boat within the next three years to make use of the expanded river system available to him.
"I'll blow my horn when I come through De Pere," he promised.
Reopening Fox lock triggers debate on invasive species
By Paul Brinkmann
Post-Crescent staff writer
The hungry sea lamprey, with a mouth like a vampire on steroids, is found almost everywhere in the Great Lakes and its tributaries.
But it's not found in Lake Winnebago, and not in the upper reaches of the lower Fox River. And people want it to stay that way.
That's why a proposal to reopen the Fox River between Lake Winnebago and Green Bay to boat traffic leaves closed the Rapid Croche lock and dam near Wrightstown. The edge of the dam has a lip on it to keep out the lamprey. It also keeps out a growing number of nasty critters that, like the lamprey, are considered invasive species in the Great Lakes — the spiny water flea, the round goby, the ruffe fish and the white perch.
Some of those creatures are carried by boaters to new territories. The issue of invasive species has prompted a sharp division between fishermen who value Lake Winnebago the way it is, and other boaters seeking more travel options up and down the lower Fox River.
At least three fishing clubs around Lake Winnebago are opposed to the idea of reopening 13 other locks so boats can travel from Green Bay to Menasha and beyond.
"We're very concerned about exotic species like the lamprey getting in," said Bill McAloon of Oshkosh, a member of the Otter Street Fishing Club. "It's kind of a touchy subject with fishermen here."
Keeping out the lamprey means a mechanism is needed to lift boats over Rapid Croche. The private group Friends of the Fox has a draft proposal that envisions a 20-minute delay for boaters while their vessel and equipment are inspected, lifted, powerwashed with hot water and, possibly, cleaned with vinegar to kill any unwanted passengers.
The boatlift proposal has the blessing of Phil Moy, a biologist with the University of Wisconsin SeaGrant Institute.
Moy is considered a leading expert on the zebra mussel, an invasive species already at home in Lake Winnebago, most likely because of unsuspecting boaters. He said the boatlift at Rapid Croche may actually help prevent further spread of the lamprey and its invasive cohorts.
"I'm pretty confident the system they're going to propose will prevent the spread through the boatlift. I think the real threat is the access by trailered boats," Moy said. "It's as foolproof as you're going to get."
That assurance is not enough for McAloon and other fishermen. He said the Friends of the Fox group is playing with fire by increasing boat traffic up the Fox River.
Friends of the Fox estimates up to 50,000 boats may use the river system once it is reopened for boating between Green Bay and Menasha. McAloon sees that as increasing the odds that a small, pregnant round goby or some other invasive critter could slip through the inspection system. Moy points out that some boaters already trailer their boats from Green Bay to Lake Winnebago and are actually a greater risk for transporting a goby or spiny waterflea.
The stakes are high on all sides. Lake Winnebago is not only unique for it's lack of lamprey, it's also one of the last major refuges for the threatened lake sturgeon, which are particularly vulnerable to lamprey and other invasive species because they reproduce slowly.
The plan for the boatlift will be scrutinized in public meetings to be scheduled sometime this fall, and by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and possibly the Sea Lamprey Control Program of the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission.
The Friends of the Fox group believes new boat traffic will boost the local economy, especially in Appleton and Neenah-Menasha. But some local fishing experts point out that Lake Winnebago already is home to a thriving sport-fishing industry. Besides lake sturgeon, Winnebago shelters a world-famous walleye population and other popular game fish.
"The last study I heard of said the fishing industry here is worth $400 million to the local economy," said Ron Bruch, a DNR expert on the lake sturgeon. "My take on it is, the sport fishermen and many people managing the ecosystem are opposed to it (the plan to restart river traffic), because even with a sophisticated decontamination system, even if there's limited failure, the impact can be devastating."
Bill Bush, a boater and chairman of the Friends of the Fox committee on invasive species, said he is fully confident Moy's plan for the boat lift will prevent unwanted passengers. Bush said the boatlift system would require two or three employees to run.
"We know people are interested, and we're trying to make sure we appeal to all the communities up and down the river and groups like Walleyes for Tomorrow (one of the fishing groups expressing concern)," Bush said. Lock tender's life filled with ups and downs of the job By Michael King
MENASHA — Consider Bill Greenwood a gatekeeper.
As one of the tenders who man the Fox River lock here, he is the connection for boaters between two busy lakes.
Greenwood, 19, of Appleton, enjoys maneuvering the hand-operated lock despite the sometimes grueling work.
"During the week it's a real leisurely job. You've got to cut lawn and make sure it stays tidy and everything looks good," said Greenwood, a college student in his first season as a full-time lock tender. "But on the weekend, when you're bookin' and pounding boats through the locks, you get pretty tired."
The Menasha lock, one of three operating on the 17-lock system from Lake Winnebago to Green Bay, is the crucial link for boaters between Winnebago and Little Lake Butte des Morts.
With the dry, hot summer providing perfect boating weather and the recent opening of the Fox Cities Trestle-Friendship Trail, the lock site, on the west end of Broad Street, has never been busier.
"A lot of people from the area didn't even know the lock existed," Greenwood said. "People are really starting to take interest. Now, the general public has a little more access."
In the first three months of the May-October season, tenders here operated the lock 1,199 times, moving 1,855 boats and 7,810 people through.
On a hot weekend day, Menasha lock tenders might do 30-40 so-called lockages, which take up to 10-15 minutes each depending on the number of boats and corresponding paperwork.
"Every weekend we were bookin' pretty much starting in mid-June," Greenwood said.
A lock tender's primary responsibility is to navigate boats through the lock using valves and gates. Everything is done by hand or gravity, with no electric motors.
Pulling levers to open valves and turning a tripod to open and close the massive steel gates keep a tender hopping.
"The more in shape or physically fit you are the easier the job will be," Greenwood said.
During downtime, tenders also give tours to students, Scouts and seniors.
"They're one of the few guys out there working on weekends," said Dennis Arnoldussen, operations manager for the Fox River Navigational System Authority who supervises eight full-time and two part-time tenders at the three Fox locks, in Menasha, DePere and Kaukauna.
Arnoldussen, who has operated all 17 locks on the system at one time or another, said each one is 33 feet wide and 144 feet long but still unique.
"They're similar, but each one is different," he said. "The parts aren't interchangeable."
The lock tender's role is unique as well.
Said Greenwood: "It's the best summer job I've ever had." Group eyes fund campaign to aid restoration plan; Doyle backs it
By Ed Lowe TOWN OF MENASHA — The Friends of the Fox will lead a campaign to raise $6.25 million in private money by Labor Day to accelerate the restoration of the Fox River locks system. Doyle to signal start of work in Kaukauna today By Steve Wideman KAUKAUNA — An effort to save historic hardware on the Fox River locks begins today, marking the latest move toward restoration of the 150-year-old system. "Rehabilitating the locks will mean that the Fox River Navigational System can once again be a catalyst for economic growth in Wisconsin," he said. "Parks, riverwalks, and restaurants will flourish along the shores of the Fox River, and historic boat tours and dinner cruises will navigate its waters." Stark said the Kaukauna locks are in the worst shape and need attention before any restoration begins. Fox locks restoration part of plan to boost public use By Jeff Potts Reopening the Fox locks system isn't just about providing safe travel up and down area waterways — it's the centerpiece of a master plan designed to make Northeastern Wisconsin one of the most unique areas in the world with regard to public access to waterways.
A 140-mile stretch of the upper and lower Fox Rivers from Portage to Green Bay is destined to become the Fox River Heritage Parkway, complete with museums and historical sites, public parks, and plenty of access to the water.
Plans to develop pockets of public access adjacent to each lock within the system "makes a lot of sense," said Neenah's Tim Parker. "If they are going to go through the trouble of making the waterways navigable, they better give people a reason to stop."
Creating those reasons to stop will be up to local municipalities up and down the waterways, but they do have some help.
Ed Kleckner, community development planner for East Central Regional Planning Commission, the quasi-public-private body helping to oversee a statewide effort to maximize public use of waterways, has been working on the project since 1995.
He points to benefits for local residents who simply would never be able to afford waterfront property but now will be able to use it at their leisure, and economic development opportunities for smaller communities to attract visitors.
While Kleckner works with 10 counties in east-central Wisconsin, the ultimate plan will involve a much greater portion of the state.
The official "Heritage Corridor" will connect the Mississippi River to the bay of Green Bay.
Kleckner describes three distinctly different river characteristics for communities to build around.
He calls the run from the Mississippi River in Prairie du Chien to Portage a "take it easy type river" that meanders through majestic hills and valleys.
A canal system in Portage will take visitors to Lake Winnebago via the upper Fox River, which Kleckner referred to as a focal point for tourism because of its "more laid-back environment."
The third leg of the corridor runs from Lake Winnebago down to Green Bay where visitors experience the 50-foot tall riverbanks and the fastest water of the trip.
Once the river system is opened to boat travel, plans call for the development of public land to allow nonboaters to take advantage of the waterfront property.
Menasha residents are already getting a taste of what the corridor will mean as they celebrate the conversion of an abandoned railroad trestle bridge into largest pedestrian trail crossing a body of water in Wisconsin.
Fox Cities Trestle-Friendship Trail crosses Little Lake Butte des Morts and now completes a trail from Manitowoc to Stevens Point. It also bisects the Fox Cities Paper Trail, which crosses the Fox River and connects to the WIOWASH trail.
Menasha resident Tatiana Wayman said developing recreational areas along the waterways is a perfect way to keep all outdoor enthusiasts happy.
"You can bike, run, or boat to nearly anywhere in the state," she said.
While organizers know development won't happen overnight, they have established a system in which communities on the water can get free advice on how to maximize their involvement in the project.
The Riverfront Vitality Initiative, a combined effort between the nonprofit group Friends of the Fox and the East Central Regional Planning Commission, provides volunteer assistance in every aspect of development from construction and financing to engineering and landscaping.
Menasha is one of the few cities already taking advantage of their expertise, said Kleckner, who points to the new Trestle Trail Bridge as a shining example of giving the waterways back to residents.
"People that don't have boats can go down to the water and enjoy it from the shoreline or like the Trestle Bridge they can enjoy it from the middle of the lake," he said. "It a rare day when residents get a gift like this." New locks may launch fun of river By Paul Srubas There's serious money to be made up and down the Fox River when the locks system is restored, but the $28.8 million investment in the project is not just about generating serious money.
It's about generating fun.
"I can't wait," said Dave Jansen, a fishing and pleasure-boat enthusiast from Kaukauna. "The sooner, the better."
Jansen lives on the bank of the Fox River and already boats the three-mile section that is available to him. But when the locks are open and operational, he's going to buy a pontoon boat and spend even more time on the water.
"I'd use it every day," he said. "I ice-fish, snowmobile, I play the river, and I have ever since I was a kid. This is all the river I play with, and when they open it up, I'll play with the whole thing."
The impact of an open system on some water sports may be minimal, said Chris Zeller, one of the owners of Zeller's Ski & Sports in Allouez, which sells kayaks and canoes, water skis and related gear.
Kayakers and canoeists already can travel the distance by portaging around the locks and dams, though that isn't easy, he said. The open locks system may or may not encourage people to take up kayaking or canoeing or encourage kayakers and canoeists to take the long trip, he said.
Water skiers aren't likely to want to travel the distance of the entire lower Fox River to do their skiing, so the impact of the locks system on that sport will be minimal, Zeller predicted.
But motorboat sales are likely to increase with the expanded river access, he said.
The prospect of increased boat traffic doesn't thrill many fishermen.
"I think we've got pretty good traffic already," said Bill McAloon, a member of the Oshkosh-based Otter Street Fishing Club. "If you're in a 17- or 18-foot fishing boat, you don't want to have to worry about some cigarette boat coming by at 70 or 80 mph."
McAloon also worries that boat traffic from the bay of Green Bay into the Lake Winnebago watershed will increase the chances of bringing invasive species upstream. Some of those species, especially sea lamprey, are known to be harmful to many sports fish.
The lock at Rapide Croche is to remain closed with a boat lift installed so that passing boats can be cleaned of invasive species, but greater traffic will increase the chances, McAloon said.
"All it takes is for one guy to screw up," he said.
Pleasure-boaters are more likely to use the locks than fishermen are, said Mike Arrowood, chairman of the Fond du Lac-based Walleyes for Tomorrow club. Most fishermen won't want to waste the time it will take to pass through the locks and are likelier to just trailer their boats to the section of river or to the lake where they want to fish, he said.
But boating of all kinds has nearly doubled in the last 40 years in the communities that line the Fox River and has increased substantially even in the years since the closing of the lock system in the mid-1980s. With more than 56,000 registered boats in the three counties along the Fox River, plenty of them are likely to travel up and down the river when the locks open.
The need for destination points likely will increase.
"We're going to need more places to eat," said boating enthusiast Abby Ledvina of Green Bay, who was out for a spin on the river on a recent afternoon with her friend, Geoff Sonntag, also of Green Bay. "There aren't many places to stop."
She and Sonntag look forward to the day when they can cruise from Green Bay to Appleton to meet friends, but they'd like destination points along the way.
Eugene Vanden Heuvel used to own the Old Time Inn, a tavern just yards from the lock in Little Chute. In the early 1980s, when the lock was still open, his bar was a destination point for boaters.
"They'd dock in front of the guard lock and come in and get a six-pack," he said.
The tavern, now called Down the Hill, is under new ownership, but Vanden Heuvel still tends bar there. He expects boaters will be stopping in again, once the lock opens.
John Lambie, mayor of Kaukauna, wonders how much his city will benefit from that kind of boating traffic.
"When you figure it will take the better part of a day to go through all of the locks, after you've already gone through six to get here, I think your goal will be to continue on your way, not to stop and shop or stop and eat," he said. "Yes, you may get your occasional person who runs up the hill to buy an ice cream cone, but your major tourism dollars will be at the two ends of the locks system."
Still, Kaukauna is looking to use the lock system grounds as part of a walking-biking trail system and as a tourist attraction unto itself. Five of the 17 locks on the Lower Fox are in Kaukauna, and they will provide a stopping point for hikers, bikers and history buffs who already may be coming to town to see the Grignon Mansion.
Like Kaukauna, other communities aren't expecting commercial interests to do it all. Planning already is under way for public parks, docks and trails that'll make the locks an attraction not just for boaters but for hikers, bikers and other landlubbers.
"Our comprehensive plan calls for a couple of things to take advantage of the open locks system," said De Pere City Planner Bill Patzke. "We're planning more boat docks, so people can dock and take advantage of our downtown, both at Voyageur Park and upstream from the lock."
Brown County's long-range plan calls for the development of a park at or near the Little Kaukauna lock at Little Rapids, principal planner Joe Dietl said.
"Our section of the river is just a piece of a bigger puzzle," said Chuck Lamine, director of the county's planning department. "One of the things we're trying to do is coordinate it, to see what each other are doing, how does our section fit in with the rest."
Part of the challenge will be acquiring riverfront property before the price puts it out of public reach, he said.
"They're not making more river frontage," he said.
Post-Crescent staff writer
Post-Crescent staff writer
The plan, introduced at the group's annual meeting Thursday before a crowd of governmental leaders including Gov. James Doyle, would make the Fox River navigable from Neenah to Green Bay by 2009 — eight years sooner than originally proposed. The dilapidated 17-lock system has not allowed navigation of the full length of the lower Fox River since 1986.
Doyle, his wife Jessica, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton and members of Doyle's Cabinet were in Winnebago and Outagamie counties for a series of appearances Thursday. The governor had declared them "Capital for the Day."
New Friends of Fox President Bob Stark said the acceleration of the restoration schedule is essential for the success of the fund-raising drive.
"It's going to be a challenge, no question about that, but by having the plan totally in place so much sooner, it provides people in the community with the ability to reach this funding goal," Stark said.
"It's not just about boating. It's about quality of life. It's about why we live here. We're talking about something that will be done in three or four years, so we'll all get to enjoy it in our lifetime."
Doyle, presented with the group's John Forster Visionary Award in recognition of his ability to secure state ownership of the federally developed lock system completed in 1856, heralded the plan as a catalyst for "re-energizing" the Fox Valley, with new revenue from tourism, recreation and waterfront development.
"The prospects for economic renewal are endless," he said, congratulating the Friends of the Fox and local leaders for setting the new timeline in motion.
"This confirms my belief that there's no area of the state or the country more able to meet this challenge than the Fox Valley and northeastern Wisconsin."
The new fund-raising campaign, if successful, would boost private investment in the project to more than $8 million. About $1.8 million in private funds has been raised to date toward an effort expected to cost $28.3 million. The federal government has committed $17.4 million in funding, while the state has provided $2.8 million.
A fully operational locks system, which would include construction of a boatlift at the Rapide Croche lock near Wrightstown. The lock will remain sealed as a barrier to sea lamprey and other invasive species, Stark said.
Bill Raaths, director of the Fox River Authority, said the advanced timeline will fuel enthusiasm among people who had difficulty envisioning the impact of a project scheduled for completion more than a decade into the future.
"We can be moving down that river in 2008 or 2009," he said. "… It's within reach."
The meeting was held at the corporate office of Miron Construction Co., donor of the trestle trail pedestrian lift bridge at the Menasha lock. Miron President Dave Voss said a motor allowing the bridge to open and close will be installed this year.
Post-Crescent staff writer
Today is Day 1 in the culmination of a 25-year struggle to reopen the locks, said Ron Vandehey, chairman of the Fox River Navigational System Authority, which was entrusted with care of the locks after the system was transferred in 2004 from federal to state control.
"We are calling today the kickoff of our entire restoration project. This is really a historic day for the system," Vandehey said.
Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to be on hand for a ceremony set for noon at Kaukauna Lock No. 3 on Augustine Street. Doyle planned to give the signal for a large crane to begin operations to stabilize the lock doors so hand-crafted hardware, some original to the locks, can be removed, repaired and reused when the Kaukauna locks are rebuilt in 2008.
"All of the hardware and machinery on the Kaukauna locks is almost all handmade and irreplaceable," said Bob Stark, president of Friends of the Fox, a group leading efforts to refurbish the 17-lock system and reopen a 39-mile stretch of river to recreational boating.
In prepared remarks, Doyle mentioned the economic benefit of the locks' opening.
Restoration of the 17-lock system, a project estimated to cost about $23 million, will begin in 2006 when work occurs on the four locks in Appleton.
After the Appleton locks are done in 2007, the focus will switch to locks in Kimberly, Little Chute and Combined Locks. Work there is expected to be completed by 2008 or 2009, Vandehey said.
Restoration of the five locks in Kaukauna and construction of a boatlift at the Rapide Croche lock near Wrightstown tentatively is set for completion by 2009 or 2010.
Just three of the 17 locks have been operable since 1986 when the other 14 locks were closed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Vandehey said the restoration timeline depends on the success of a $6.25 million fund-raising campaign by Friends of the Fox.
"Otherwise we would have to wait for return on investments to generate enough money to complete the locks restoration. You would probably be looking at the system opening in 12 to 14 years," Vandehey said. "If you are going to make a contribution to the system you would like to see the fruits of that contribution sooner or later."
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Post-Crescent staff writer