Room tax to fund Crossroads Museum display

The Saukville Historical Society will receive $7,000 from the village’s room tax to help build a permanent display at its Crossroads Museum.

The money was part of a room tax plan recently approved by the Village Board.

The plan, which was put together by the Saukville Chamber of Commerce, outlines how the $48,000 the village expects to receive in room taxes will be spent.

The room tax traditionally is used to fund such things as the farmers market, Saukville Scare 5k run, Fourth of July fireworks and parade, the Friends of the Fire Department Car Show, Live at the Triangle concert series and the Food Truck Frenzy sponsored by the Saukville-based Ozaukee Food Alliance, as well as the Chamber of Commerce website, Mike Cosgrove, executive director of the Chamber, said.

While many communities use the room tax to pay employees, Cosgrove said Saukville has opted instead to pay for events and capital items.

“We want to put it (the room tax) back into the community,” he said, both in terms of events people will come to the village for and attractions such as the Crossroads Museum.

The Crossroads Museum allocation is the only new item included in the room tax plan for this year, Cosgrove said.

The money will be used for professional archival and exhibit consultations, building an installation for permanent displays, signage and a display, he said.

“Obviously the $7,000 is just a portion of that,” Cosgrove said.

The display is the museum’s first permanent exhibit, he said, and will center around the 1917 Saukville fire “that shaped so much of the local community.”

The fire occurred on Dec. 18, 1917, and consumed four buildings on Green Bay Road in the triangle area of the village. It was sparked by a gasoline explosion at De Buhr’s Hardware Store.

The exhibit is the first phase of a multi-tiered plan by the Society, Cosgrove said, noting the organization hopes to have it up in the next year or so, depending on fundraising.

Cosgrove noted that the village’s room tax comes in large part from rentals at Motel 6, and the amount has been fairly consistent for the last three years.

That is likely to change as the Northern Gateway Community Collective on the village’s far east side becomes a reality, given that the development includes a hotel, he said.

The Chamber is always willing to look at applications for funding, Cosgrove said, noting that items funded must promote tourism in the community.

If there are excess funds from the room tax during the year, the Chamber will award additional grants, he said.