Heart of the Harbor beating strong

Work on the Heart of the Harbor project, which will convert the asphalt cul-de-sac at the east end of East Main Street in downtown Port Washington into a landscaped plaza complete with a sculptural fire feature, could begin as soon as late April and be completed by June 30.

The project is being spearheaded by Port Washington Main Street Inc., which is nearing its $270,000 goal for the project.

Its fundraising efforts were boosted recently when Main Street learned it had received a $20,000 grant from the We Energies Foundation and Port Washington State Bank, which has donated $10,000 to the project already, is offering to match $10,000 in additional donations.

“It is so exciting,” Nate Sherper, president of the Main Street board of directors, said. “It looks like we’ll meet our goal and be able to get the entire project done this spring.

“It’s going to be awesome. To have an outdoor gathering space, especially at this point in time, is going to be great.”

Sherper said Main Street expects another donation in the coming weeks that is likely to put it over its fundraising goal.

If they raise more money than is needed to build the plaza, he said, they will create a reserve fund to pay for maintenance projects and ongoing costs such as the gas needed to fuel its fire feature. 

It’s especially exciting considering the project had languished for much of the last year, Sherper said, noting that fundraising efforts picked up steam recently.

“As it became more and more of a reality, everyone said, ‘This is such a cool project that we want to be part of it,’” he said.

Even businesses that have been hard hit by the pandemic have found ways to support the project, he said. Some held special events to raise money for Heart of the Harbor while others sold special items with proceeds designated for the plaza.

“A lot of the retail businesses got creative to help with this,” Sherper said.

The project is also funded by grants, including a $40,000 Coastal Management grant. Matching funds for the grant will come from the City of Port Washington, which will place the pavers, do much of the concrete work and do landscaping.

The centerpiece of the Heart of the Harbor plan is a 12-foot-tall fire sculpture Main Street has commissioned from Milwaukee area artist Jesse Meyer.

The bronze sculpture will have metal tendrils intertwining as they reach from the base skyward with a gas flame inside them, a feature meant to resemble both flames and movement of waves on the lake. 

A switch at the plaza will turn on the flame, which will burn for a set amount of time.

The plaza will also have benches, bike racks, picnic tables, landscaping, pavers, a sitting wall and metal sunshades.   

Main Street currently has enough money to pay for the first two phases of the plaza, Sherper said — everything but the sunshades.

The project, which was recently presented to the Common Council, was lauded by officials.

“I can’t believe you guys got it done so quickly,” Mayor Marty Becker said. “I think it’s a pretty cool piece of artwork, really, really neat. 

“It’s going to be a really great addition to Port.”