Former clinic building piques Port’s interest

Port Washington aldermen on Tuesday directed city staff members to explore buying the shuttered Aurora Medical Center clinic at 1777 W. Grand Ave. for use as a senior center and community center.

Aldermen made no comments in unanimously voting on the measure following an hour-long closed session.

Mayor Ted Neitzke said he and the city staff members will talk to officials from Aurora to see “if they’re willing to work with us so we can study the property and see if it will fit the needs for a community center.”

“We’re exploring it,” Neitzke added, noting officials want to check out the condition of the building and what it would take to renovate the facility. “The council agrees with the need to be strategic on this.”

The vision, he said, is to create a “bright and airy and innovative” center that would draw seniors to the area and also provide activities for people of all ages.

“This would be a center of activities for seniors during the day and the community on evenings and weekends,” Neitzke said, adding he wants the city to “think big, really big” to create a world class facility.

The former clinic is 16,000 square feet on 4.2 acres, was built in 1992 and is listed for sale for $1.3 million, he said, adding it generates $33,000 in taxes each year.

Ald. John Sigwart, who has been championing the purchase of the building for a senior center for years, said Tuesday it’s ideal for a community and senior center.

“It’s an opportunity that probably won’t avail itself to us again in my lifetime,” he said. “To me, it’s worth tying it up so we don’t lose it.

“The seniors like it. It’s flexible. It’s got great parking and it’s very accessible to people from Saukville, the Town of Saukville, Fredonia, the Town of Port and, of course, the city.”

And when the former Schanen farm immediately to the west is developed, the Aurora property will be in the midst of the city, he said.

Ald. Deb Postl, who with Sigwart has been looking at the options for a new senior center, concurred.

“This is a perfect location, high visibility,” she said, adding that a recent survey showed that many people didn’t know the city had a senior center because the current location is in a residential area, not on a main street.

“I’ve heard from many seniors that they want this location,” Postl said. “There are many things that are exciting about this. There’s plenty of room for expansion, and there’s room for outdoor activities like horseshoes at the site.”

Sigwart and Postl had talked to Capri Communities about partnering to create a community and senior center at its Harbor Campus, but those talks haven’t progressed much, the aldermen agreed.

A group of about a dozen senior citizens told the Common Council in October that the current senior center, which is in a former church, has so many significant issues that it’s time to consider a new facility and the former medical clinic is the right place to look.

The current center has little parking, stairs throughout and is segmented in ways that separate seniors instead of encouraging them to mingle, they noted, while the Aurora building is a single story, easy to renovate and has plenty of parking.

“It does offer a lot of things,” Neitzke said.

One key part of the equation is financing, he said.

“That will be part of the study,” he said. “We have to figure that out.”

That’s especially important, Neitzke said, because the city is in the midst of several expensive projects, including the construction of a public safety center and renovations to the water and wastewater plants.

“Funds are tight right now because we’re trying to do so many things — stabilize the staff, fix the lighthouse, build a fire and police station,” Postl said. “It would have to fall in line with the other priorities we have.

“But everything I’ve done over the last two years supports this being a good location.”